


The Brave Little Temp and the Playboy Engineer

by Neverever



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Artist Steve Rogers, Blow Jobs, Corporate Espionage, Developing Relationship, First Time, Gossip, Las Vegas, M/M, Misunderstandings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-25 23:26:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve finds himself facing the consequences of his decisions when he meets Tony Stark and starts working as a temp at Hammer Industries. How will he stand up for himself and still have his happy ending?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Vegas Vacation

Bucky started it all when he suggested that they all meet up in Las Vegas for a big weekend trip. He pointed out this would be the last time they would likely see each other for possibly years. He had just gotten orders for a new overseas posting starting in a couple of months, Peggy was planning to leave for Jakarta where her new assignment the State Department was and Sam would be starting his new job for the city as a social worker in New York soon.

Unlike his friends, Steve was working as a temp while he tried to establish himself as an artist. So he fretted about the cost, protesting that he was not particularly crazy about Las Vegas since he was not interested in gambling. Steve relented once Sam found a deal at Aria for a hotel room and airfare package and Peggy prodded him hard, reminding Steve that he had not had a vacation ever. After that, the plan for Vegas came together rather quickly.

On their first day at the casino, Peggy and Sam’s girlfriend Maya arranged to rent a cabana for the day. Then they campaigned to have Steve join them for the day. Peggy and Maya made the prospect of lazing by the pool sound more enticing than Sam and Bucky’s plan to explore the Strip. Sam teased them for wanting the hot guy with them at the pool.

“It’s a proven fact that we get better service when Steve’s around.” Peggy laughed. Then she patted Steve’s arm. “That’s because you’re such a nice guy. Although the view’s not bad at all.” Steve blushed at that.

After about an hour of lying in the sun and splashing in the pool, Steve started to feel hot and sticky. The growing crowd around the pool was getting to be oppressive. He remembered the misters in the cabana and decided to spend the day sketching in the cool of the cabana since it was so hot outside. After the letting his friends know his plans, he made the trip back to their room to retrieve his sketch pad and other supplies. But when he returned to their cabana, he found someone sleeping on the settee in the cabana. 

Steve was not sure what to say. The someone asleep on the settee was a very attractive man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He was curled up much like a cat, his head tucked into the corner of the settee. He stirred a little and Steve noticed the play of lean muscles under his likely expensive shirt and pants. Steve found the whole scene rather arresting at first. Then he wondered what was going on, especially since Steve could smell alcohol on the stranger.

“Hey there,” Steve said, trying to wake the man up.

The man stirred even more. He lifted his head and blinked a few times. His sleepy, deep brown eyes were fringed with dark lashes. He shifted onto his back and threw his arm over his face. “What time is it?” he asked, slurring his words.

“Almost noon,” Steve replied. 

The man swung his legs down and was now sitting up. He slung his arm on the back of the settee and rubbed a hand over his face. Then he looked at Steve appraisingly. Under the intense gaze, Steve felt naked, although he was wearing non-revealing swim trunks. The intruder sighed. “This is not my room, I gather?”

“Ah, no. This is my cabana, at the pool.”

“Sorry about that, gorgeous,” the man replied. His voice was rough and low. “Sorry that I’m in your cabana and that you’re not in my room.”

Steve blushed and had a funny feeling that he should not be finding this man as attractive as he did. Especially when the man stretched his back and arms and ran his hand through his dark, wavy hair. He stood up, a bit unsteady.

“Do you need help?” Steve offered before he could stop himself. He had no idea why he asked that.

The man smiled at him. “Not that I don’t appreciate your wonderful offer, blondie, but I can manage.” 

“Um, okay,” Steve replied doubtfully.

“I’m Tony, by the way.”

“Steve.”

Tony held out his hand for Steve to shake. Then with a megawatt smile, he asked suggestively, “Catch you later?”

Steve, who apparently had no control over his mouth, responded, “My friends and I are here for a few days.”

“Really now?” Tony said, leaning somewhat too close towards Steve. His beautiful brown eyes were very expressive and his lips were full, a dazed Steve thought. “My friends will be looking for me. See you around, gorgeous.” He gripped Steve’s bicep in farewell and then swanned out of the cabana.

Steve sat down on the settee, feeling a little breathless. He spent a few minutes wondering about Tony, where he came from, how he ended up in their cabana, and why he had this magnetic effect on him. Then Peggy and Maya came in from the pool and announced that they had ordered lunch to be delivered shortly. And Steve shook himself free from whatever spell he had been under.

 

“What is this, Operation Corrupt Steve?” Bucky asked the next day when he returned to their hotel room and saw Peggy making Steve try on different pairs of pants and shirts.

“We’re going to a nightclub tonight and Steve didn’t have anything appropriate,” Peggy replied. “I raided your and Sam’s bags and did a little shopping.” She tapped Steve’s side. “Turn around.”

Sheepishly, Steve turned around in front of the mirror. Peggy had found a silk navy blue shirt and borrowed Bucky’s charcoal pants, which mostly fit. “They’ll let you in with that,” she said admiringly. “Tie?”

Bucky snorted. “No one wears ties to these places. What’s wrong with board shorts and a t-shirt?”

“Where we are going they won’t let even Steve in if we’re not dressed correctly.” Peggy started sorting through a pile of shoes.

“Can I have Steve now?” Bucky asked. “Sam and I need him for the Sports Book.”

“As long you all return by seven to get dressed. We have dinner reservations at eight. I’ll have figured out the shoe situation, Steve, by then. And maybe the pants.” Peggy waved them out.

Steve knew Bucky better than anyone but he had no idea why Bucky could not figure out the finer points of baseball himself in order to place good bets. The three of them spent a great couple of hours at The Sports Book watching games and drinking beer. Then Sam pointed out that the women were waiting for them. As they were leaving, Steve glanced down the hall and saw in the distance Tony from yesterday. Dressed sharply, he was standing with a large group of people, waving a hand around as he was talking, likely telling a story or joke. Steve was a little intrigued. There might be more to Tony than falling asleep in random cabanas.

Ever a miracle worker, Peggy found appropriate shoes and a new pair of charcoal pants for Steve somewhere. After sorting them all out, Peggy pushed them out the room and on their way to the restaurant. Peggy was very keen on going to Marquee over at Cosmo and was worried that they would not be able to get in. Steve teased her all during dinner about it. Peggy had a plan. She and Maya were dressed in slinky short dresses and stilettos. She thought Sam was passable but Bucky was the weak link. Her hopes were pinned on Steve and his sweet smile (and hot body) to win her battle to get in. She had secured tickets earlier and still they had to line up in time to have a chance of getting in. Her calculations paid off -- they were waved in with little problem, even with Bucky’s iffy shoes.

The club was crowded and the music was loud and thumping. Peggy, Sam, and Maya immediately took off for the dance floor, leaving Bucky and Steve at a bar. Bucky wrangled drinks for them. Steve nursed his scotch for a while since the beer was catching up to him and he was starting to feel buzzed. Then Bucky elbowed Steve and pointed out a rather striking woman. Steve gave him a shove and wished him luck. Bucky flashed him a big smile, gave a thumbs up and waded out into the crowd in pursuit of his mystery lady.

Steve went off to find the rest of his friends and was soon completely lost. The club had multiple floors and rooms. And it was crowded on every floor. He tried texting and phoning, but no answer; not that he would have heard his phone go off or vibrate even they did call back. He wandered up to the rooftop pool area and found a place to sit. He felt a little down, not sure what to do. Granted he had lots of offers of company of all sorts, but he wanted to catch up to his friends. Steve ended up ordering another drink and pondering the mermaids in the pool.

Then someone clapped him on his shoulder. It was Tony, of all people. He flashed Steve his megawatt smile. “Hey, it’s my cabana friend,” Tony said. Well, shouted over the pounding bass. It was hard to hear. Tony sat down next to Steve.

Steve smiled back. He liked how Tony felt next to him. “Hi,” he shouted back.

Tony tucked in closer to Steve and put his arm around Steve’s lower back, resting his hand on Steve’s hip. He leaned into Steve and said, “Where are your friends?” He was so close to Steve that his goatee scratched his face as Tony spoke into Steve’s ear.

“Somewhere in the club.” A warm feeling settled in Steve’s stomach.

“Want to join me? I’ve got a table.”

Steve nodded and they stood up. Keeping his arm around Steve’s waist, Tony led him down to the third floor, where it was quieter and decorated like a library. Tony had a corner table and there were three very nice-looking women already seated there. Steve arched his eyebrow and Tony laughed at him. “I’m collecting friends tonight. Mine left me too.” The women, clearly appreciative of the newest addition to their party, made room for Steve.

A few rounds of drinks later, Steve found himself sitting closer to Tony. The original three women were now gone, replaced by three different women and two men. There was never-ending conversation about Las Vegas, the club, why Steve was there, movies, television and music. Steve found himself blushing more often than not but he decided to chalk it up to drinking a lot tonight. Tony’s arm was around his waist again and Steve was hesitant to touch him back. Tony was confusing him.

Tony smiled knowingly and gave him his waist a little squeeze. Steve went weak in the knees. He shifted to sit closer to Tony. Then Tony quietly asked Steve if he wanted to go somewhere less crowded. Steve nodded. “It’s been fun, ladies and gents, but I have urgent business elsewhere. My friend here has a curfew,” Tony said with suave charm. He extracted Steve from the table. Tony spoke to the waiter to settle the bill and waved to Steve.

Steve was in awe at how deftly Tony maneuvered them out of the club. Somehow the crowd parted around him, although Tony stopped on occasion to say hello, shake a hand, and take a cell phone picture. Finally they were outside the club, Tony still holding Steve’s hand. They began to make their way back towards Steve’s hotel. 

In the quiet of the hallways, Steve’s head started to clear. He felt intoxicated by Tony. Tony never paused in talking. He talked about why he was in Las Vegas, what his friends were up to, and whatever came to him. Steve smiled the entire time. Tony’s hand was large and warm in Steve’s. And as they walked, Tony leaned in closer, almost leaning his head on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve wanted the walk back to the hotel to last forever but in all too short a time they were standing in front of Steve’s room. Tony announced, “This is where I kiss you, sweetheart,” and pulled Steve into a kiss. Steve completely surrendered, responding to Tony with enthusiasm. He wrapped his arms around Tony, catching the scent of his cologne. The kiss became hotter and wetter, especially when Tony moved one hand to rest on Steve’s waist, the other stroking and caressing over Steve’s back and down to his ass. Then Tony’s fingers slid under the waistband of Steve’s pants. He broke away from Steve’s mouth to kiss along Steve’s chin, jaw, and neck, eventually mouthing the sweet spot between neck and shoulder. Pausing afterwards, he looked up at Steve through his dark lashes and smiled lasciviously.

The bottom fell out of Steve’s stomach. Even though he had started thinking of what Tony might look like, naked, in his bed, Steve had to end it here. He was too close to drunk and Tony did not look entirely sober himself. Steve disentangled himself from Tony, earning a series of disappointed noises. “Um, thanks for a great evening, Tony.”

Experienced as he was, Tony sensed immediately that Steve was intent on putting an end to the evening’s activities. He tried to pull Steve into an embrace. “Come on, gorgeous, you won’t regret a thing. I’m totally worth it,” he purred.

Steve felt like the worst person in the world. “I’ve got to call it a night, Tony. I had too much to drink and --”

Tony laughed. “You could never tell, Steve, still look great.”

Steve actually felt himself blush. He pressed a chaste kiss to Tony’s forehead. “Thanks again.”

With obvious regret Tony patted his arm. “See you around, blondie.” He blew Steve a kiss as he turned to leave.

Steve watched him go before swiping his card to open the door. He knew he might regret turning Tony down, but he still had to live with himself. After all, he barely knew Tony. They had only just met and Steve was definitely not a one-night-stand kind of guy.

 

When it was time to check out, Steve and his friends, all a little worse for wear, gathered up their luggage and went down to the registration desk to settle the bill. Peggy wanted to know why they were not charged for their cabana. The desk clerk said that the cabana had been comped and they were not going to be charged for it.

For some reason, although mostly from embarrassment, Steve had decided not to tell his friends about finding Tony in the cabana. Or that he spent time at the nightclub with Tony. Bucky not catching up with them until early afternoon had distracted his friends from asking what Steve was up to after they left him behind. Steve was left to wonder if Tony had something to do with the cabana charge.

As the clerk worked through splitting up their charges and swiping credit cards, Steve looked around the lobby. A rather large entourage of people and luggage started to move through the lobby. Again it was Tony in the middle, flanked by a tall, redheaded woman with a tablet. Tony was dressed very fashionably in a designer suit and fancy sunglasses. His wild hair had been styled. 

Maya elbowed Sam. “That’s Tony Stark.”

“Tony Stark?” Peggy asked, craning around trying to see the famous Tony Stark. “Someone at the club mentioned he was staying here.”

Steve freaked out quietly as he realized that his Tony was Tony Stark, **the** Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, darling of the gossip pages and entertainment news shows. He really, really hoped that he was not blushing so that his friends would not ask questions that he did not know how to begin to answer.

Then Maya asked, “Oh, wasn’t he just in the news for being found in a hotel room with three lingerie models? The pictures were all over the internet and left nothing to the imagination.”

“Yeah, I saw that too.” Peggy shook her head. “He’s really very attractive. But I think you’d have to dip him in penicillin for six months before you slept with him.”

Steve looked over at Tony, now joking easily around with the people he was with. He was not sure how he felt now knowing who Tony was. His decision to turn Tony down was obviously a good one though, based on his friends’ comments.

Bucky poked him to say they were ready to go. And then they were off to McCarran International for sad goodbyes and long flights back to New York and other far-off places.


	2. Surprise in New York

Looking back on it, Steve realized that he thought of his life as before Las Vegas and after Las Vegas. There was no rational reason why he should even still be thinking of Tony after he returned to New York. Tony was way out of Steve’s league – he was the celebrity billionaire CEO of Stark Industries – and Steve was an obscure artist and office temp. Tony had told him that he lived in California, Malibu to be exact. Steve could not see how it was in any way possible that he would see Tony again, except on TMZ. Then Steve would remember how alluring Tony was when Steve first saw him asleep in the cabana and how fascinating the way he smiled at the nightclub. Being practical, he tried to put aside his thoughts as impossible. Being an optimist, he nursed a little flame of hope that maybe he would see Tony again some day.

Thoughts about Las Vegas were far from his mind though when he met his new agent Sharon for lunch a month after his vacation. He was hesitant at first about this next step in his career as an artist. He had been successful through shows his friends organized and through word of mouth. A former professor suggested Steve should consider an agent to help place his art in galleries and handle the occasional contract question. Sharon had a lot of clients, came highly recommended, and offered Steve a level of representation he was comfortable with.

Very organized and prepared to handle reluctant or delusional artists, Sharon presented a plan for Steve. Over their sandwiches and salads, she carefully explained her ideas to get Steve’s art into a few galleries and how she was pricing his pieces. She was also working a charity art auction angle. She had placed two pieces at one gallery and mentioned that Steve would be expected to be at a gallery event next Thursday to promote the gallery’s new artists. “I’ll email you the details. Wear something business casual and be perky,” she said. She started packing up to go.

“Perky? No one has ever used that word to describe me,” Steve replied.

Sharon cocked her head to the side. “Maybe adorable? Adorable could sell art. The point is to sell yourself, to have some sort of hook so that people remember you. I’m going to try to be there but the odds are not good.”

They left their table once the bill was settled. As Sharon checked her phone, she asked, “So what’s the latest temp job?”

“I’m finishing up at the insurance agency this week.” Steve made a mental note he needed to put in some calls to his temp agencies.

“Okay, see you soon,” Sharon said, cheerfully waving goodbye to Steve.

 

Despite his misgivings, Steve steeled himself for the upcoming gallery event. He had survived art critiques in college and knew that explaining himself and his art was part of the game. But these events always took a piece out of him. He knew Sharon was right about selling himself, but he just hoped he could do a good job without freezing up. He set off from his apartment hoping for the best.

And the evening turned out mostly okay, he thought later. He stood near one of his pieces, his patter about his abstract landscapes well practiced. The gallery event was well-attended but not particularly busy. Steve smiled as needed, shook hands firmly, and answered questions readily. He was pleased that he had not fallen apart. The gallery owner, Gary, came over to offer encouragement and let him know that the event had two more hours to go.

Suddenly Steve saw Tony sweep into the gallery with his entourage. Steve was completely surprised to see him here. He was pleased to be showing at this gallery, but it was by no means a famous or fashionably trendy gallery. There was no reason why somebody like Tony would be here.

Gary rushed up to say hello to Tony, paying particular attention to the striking red-headed woman next to him. Steve saw that other attendees had noted Tony’s arrival and some ventured forward to talk to him. He paid very strict attention to the cup of soda he held in his hand, well, as best he could because he could easily see Tony through the thin crowd. Then an older couple asked him about his Brooklyn piece and he welcomed the distraction from surreptitiously watching Tony.

He was so focused on ignoring Tony that he did not notice Tony and his entourage making the rounds to all the artists at the event until the gallery owner tapped Steve on the shoulder. “Now, Tony and Pepper, here’s the last of our new artists, Steve Rogers.”

The striking redhead, who must be Pepper, smiled at Steve and shook his hand. “Is this yours?” she asked, gesturing at the large abstract landscape on the nearby wall.

Steve smiled and said, “Yes, it is. It’s the street I grew up on in Brooklyn. I’ve been working on a series of city views based around this street.” He briefly described his inspirations and why he chose to work in oils for his series of street paintings. Pepper knew a considerable amount about art and it was a joy to talk to her.

The gallery owner soon retrieved Pepper to introduce her to some of the other attendees. But Tony lingered behind. With a big grin, he sidled up to Steve. “Hi there, gorgeous. This is just the best surprise.” 

Steve felt suddenly off balance. Tony’s dark eyes were lively and bright. Steve sucked in his breath and said “Hi.” He caught a whiff of Tony’s musky cologne and a nice view of his ass as Tony turned to survey the room. 

Tony said, “Pepper goes way back with Gary. She’s been telling him forever that we’d drop by his gallery if we’re in town. We had some free time between events tonight. So, we’re here.”

Feeling a little crestfallen since it seemed that Tony now had a girlfriend, Steve tried to feign indifference and said, “So how long are you here in New York?”

Tony shrugged. “Maybe two, three days. I’ve got a lot of business to do.”

Before Tony could continue, a few people approached him to talk about the latest in Stark medical tech. As Steve watched,he noticed that Tony talked with his hands and his body was very expressive depending on his interest on the subject. After politely wrapping up his conversation, Tony turned to Steve again. “So this is what you do?”

“For the most part. I also work as an office temp.”

“Funny, you didn’t mention that earlier tonight.”

“My agent doesn’t think that my skill with Excel pivot tables will sell a lot of paintings.”

Tony laughed. “Your agent probably thinks that you have something else that might sell your art,” he said, letting his gaze drift down Steve's body. Steve blushed hotly. 

Tony leaned in closer and whispered, “I wonder how far down that goes." Steve was not sure if he could get any redder. Flustered, he took a long drink from his soda. Before he could reply however, Tony checked his vibrating phone and made a quick sort of motion to Pepper. 

He looked back at Steve, his gaze serious and intent. “Are you stuck here?”

“Another hour or so, maybe I'll be out after eleven.”

“Hmmm. I have a thing but I could drop Pepper off after that. How about I come back when you’re done and we can have a fascinating conversation about pivot tables and Autocad over drinks?”

“I thought that --”

Tony sensed the direction of Steve's thoughts and shook his head. “Pepper runs my life but that’s all. So, are we on or not?”

Swallowing his nervousness, Steve replied, “Sure. I’d love to.”

 

When Tony came to pick Steve up, it was just Tony in what was clearly a very expensive black Audi. Before Steve could say anything, Tony said in a loud stage whisper, “It’s just a rental. Hope you’re not disappointed.”

Steve started laughing helplessly. He suspected that the car was worth more than his apartment and all his stuff put together.

Tony continued, “I know this place over in Hell’s Kitchen -- it’s not too loud and is open all night.” He squeezed Steve’s knee.

The restaurant Tony mentioned was exactly as he described. He valeted the car and escorted Steve into a converted warehouse building. Inside the restaurant was busy yet seemed to be a place people went not to be bothered. The hostess greeted Tony warmly. “It's a pleasure to see you, Mr. Stark. The usual table?”

Tony looked around the room. “Something private in the back, actually.”

The hostess nodded and walked them back to a booth with a curved banquette in brown leather. Tony ordered a bottle of wine and some appetizers, then sat down and slid across the seat, pulling Steve in with him. “My regular table is in the middle of the floor. And we would be interrupted all evening if we sat there,” Tony said with a little shake of his head. “Plus, I couldn’t do this.” He lifted Steve’s chin and pressed a deep, hot kiss on his mouth. Steve closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. Tony pulled back, carefully regarding Steve.

Nursing his glass of wine, Steve thought that the evening was off to a wonderful start. He had never met anyone as fascinating as Tony. It did not hurt that Tony sat very close to Steve, that his knee and thigh brushed often against Steve’s, and that Tony seemed to have a special smile reserved solely for him.

Tony talked excitedly about his research and development programs at Stark. “I’ve always been interested in how and why things work. I think I started pulling apart my toys and anything I could get my hands on when I started walking. Drove my parents crazy.” 

Steve played with one of Tony’s hands, rolling it back and forth in his hand. He noticed the calluses and cuts on the fingers, palm and back of the hand. 

Tony continued, “I love getting lost working in my workshop. If it wasn’t for Pepper, I don’t know if I’d ever surface.”

Nodding, Steve vaguely remembered he might have seen Pepper with Tony in Las Vegas. 

“Pepper’s worked for me for ages. She’s my personal assistant and, honestly, I’d be lost without her.” 

Steve did not move in circles where people had personal assistants so it had not occurred to him that Tony would have one. He was relieved, though, knowing what the relationship was.

“I don’t know as much about art as she does. But I can tell that you are very talented.” Tony flashed him a smile.

Steve’s heart fluttered. “I started drawing when I could hold a crayon and never looked back. It takes a lot of work and practice.” He talked more about what his art meant to him and what he was hoping to do for his next projects. Steve was pleased that Tony was very interested in what he was describing.

They talked for hours about everything. Steve did not remember what they had for dinner, only how energetically Tony talked, the occasional flash of Tony’s neck and shoulder when he moved, and the warmth of Tony’s hand on his thigh. Steve could sense that it must be very late at night when he suddenly felt tired. Tony put his arm around his waist and kissed him deeply. Then he whispered to Steve, “I guess it’s time to go?”

Steve yawned, feeling warm and sleepy, and asked, “What time is it?”

Tony looked at his phone. “Four am. Need to get you home, Sleeping Beauty. And I have early meetings.”

As they went to get the car, Steve asked, “A lot of meetings?”

“I’m probably booked three times over. I don’t always go to meetings but these are important. I’m in the middle of relocating corporate operations to New York.”

Tony settled Steve into the car. Steve did not object in the least when Tony’s hand lingered longer than necessary on Steve’s ass. “Where to?”

“Brooklyn.”

“God bless you for living so far away,” Tony said. He liked to drive fast, as fast as the late night streets of New York would let him.

They pulled up and parked in front of Steve’s apartment building. Steve had almost fallen asleep and Tony helped him out. They kissed leaning against the car. “Do you know how beautiful you are?” Tony asked, holding Steve tightly. “And it’s just killing me that we don’t have time for anything more.” He pulled back. “Look at me being so responsible and everything. You’re a bad, bad influence on me.”

Steve smiled shyly . He was willing to try but he knew he would be asleep as soon he got horizontal .

Tony was suddenly alarmed. “Phone, phone, give me your phone.” Steve handed it over. “I should have asked for your number back in Vegas. As soon as I got home, I totally regretted not asking for it.” He punched his number into Steve’s phone. 

He kissed Steve lingeringly, drifting his hand down Steve’s side and over the swell of his ass. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, Tony,” Steve said. He kissed the top of Tony’s head and waved goodbye. Still in a daze from Tony, he somehow found his way upstairs to his apartment.

 

Steve woke up in a panic. He never ever slept in this late and it was almost noon. Woolly-headed, he struggled to get out of bed and managed to take a shower. Over lunch, he pondered whether he was going to the gym or if would it be better to go for a run. Gradually he began to wake up and feel more like himself. 

He checked his messages. He flushed a little when he saw Tony’s text, “Call me.” He really, really liked Tony and he hoped that Tony felt the same way. The text gave him a lot of hope.

Sharon also left a message that one of his paintings sold and that the gallery was interested in more of his work.

Then he had two messages from one of his temp agencies. He did not want to lose a job so he called in, hoping he had not blown it. 

His contact was very happy to hear from Steve. “I have a job for you starting Monday.”

Steve was glad to hear that. “I can start then. What’s the job?”

“Terrific! It’s a six to eight week assignment as an admin for one of Hammer Industries’ research centers. Here’s the address and they will be expecting you at 9. Report in at Security.”

“Sounds good.”

“Thanks, Steve. Check in with us on Monday.”

Steve confirmed the address and updated his calendar. The gallery show was a success and hopefully he was on the right track with Tony. Now he had a job for a few weeks while he finished up some pieces for the gallery. It could only get better from here.


	3. Second Impressions

The Sunday after the gallery event and his maybe-a-date with Tony, Steve settled down in front of his computer with a large mug of coffee and a sketch pad and looked forward to hearing from Peggy. Steve never missed skyping Peggy when they set a time to call. It took them forever to figure out a time due to the time difference and the demands of Peggy’s job. Peggy called in and was just as interested in hearing about his latest successes as he was about her latest adventures abroad.

A short time later, his roommate Sam drew up a chair and joined the conversation. “Hey, Peggy. You should ask Steve what he did after the gallery show.” He nudged Steve hard.

Peggy took the bait. “So, Steve, what happened after the gallery show?”

Sam teased, “He met someone, I think. He only came back from the gallery the next day just before dawn. He’s been walking around the place humming and smiling since then. But he won’t tell me a damn thing.”

“Steve!” Peggy exclaimed. “We’ve been after you to get out of your cave. And then you meet a boy and you don’t tell us.”

Steve turned red. “I caught up with someone I met before. Nothing special.” He was absolutely not going to tell them that he was maybe dating the famous Tony Stark because he did not want the questions. And he was conflicted over the answers.

“Oh come on, Steve,” Peggy urged.

“Um, he’s smart and funny.” And really exciting to be around, Steve thought. “He’s very cute but he lives in California. So I don’t know if I’ll see him again,” he added.

“You never know, Steve,” Peggy said encouragingly. “Have you talked to the boy?”

“We’ve been texting since Thursday. He’s been busy.” Hoping that Tony was in fact interested in him, Steve had been nervous about calling. But Tony had been very glad to hear from Steve. He sent Steve funny texts and pictures of things he saw in New York, even a sad face selfie from his jet before leaving New York.

“That’s a good start. Don’t get too picky, Steve. I mean, you have high standards and everything and that’s fine. But don’t analyze this thing to death. Go with the flow.”

“Okay, okay.”

“And you’ve got to let me know how it turns out.”

“And if he doesn’t, I’ll find out for you, Peggy,” Sam promised.

 

On Monday, Steve reported early to Hammer Industries. The lobby for Hammer had to be one of the most depressing places he had even seen. He had worked at over thirty different office buildings since embarking on his career as a temp so he had seen his share of lobbies. It was poorly lit, decidedly unwelcoming and completely sterile. At the reception desk, the receptionist made it clear that she did not want to be bothered. Sourly she pointed Steve to the security desk and returned to whatever important work she was doing. 

The security desk was over-staffed with five security guards again doing some sort of work on their computers. One of the guards asked Steve for his identification and noted to the other guard to register one Steve Rogers as a temporary employee. Steve was then issued a temporary ID badge and shown how to use it. He learned he had to swipe his badge to go through security gates, to use the elevators and to access offices and labs. He had not worked anywhere with this amount of security before. Then the guards told him to go to Human Resources on the fifth floor.

Steve had additional paperwork to fill out at Human Resources. The office suite was minimally furnished with the latest in Dreary Office décor. He patiently filled out the paperwork, on real paper forms and not computer forms, which was surprising for a supposedly leading technology firm. He had to sign a form acknowledging the company dress code and a very strict work-for-hire agreement in addition to a number of forms about confidentiality and other related issues. He found out that he could not bring a sketchbook and any other personal work was forbidden and would be immediately confiscated.

Once finished, he was directed to wait for a staff member to bring him to his desk. Steve waited patiently. Since he had nothing to read and was forbidden from using his phone, his thoughts drifted to the past weekend and Tony. He had been surprised but pleased when Tony called him after he returned to Malibu. But Steve still had a niggling feeling warning him against pursuing anything with Tony. Since Las Vegas he had noticed Tony was all over the papers, television and internet sites, from gossip pages for dating supermodels and throwing large wild parties to business news for the latest innovation in StarkTech. It was very daunting and unnerving. Yet Tony was so vibrant, exciting and challenging and actually seemed interested in Steve. Steve thought he could be just fretting and overanalyzing. He wondered if he would ever stop being so cautious about getting involved with anyone. 

Interrupting his thoughts, one of the HR staffers said to Steve, “Everything is in order. I’ll take you to Derrick – he’ll be your supervisor during your assignment. You’ll be providing admin support to Research Group D.” 

Derrick, who turned out to be the Director of Research Group D, explained to Steve his basic duties – answering phones, ordering and stocking lab and office supplies, providing general support for grant writing and submission, locating scientific articles, scheduling meetings, wrangling travel requests and reimbursements, and other duties as assigned. Research Group D consisted of slightly over 40 scientists, lab assistants and a couple of consultants. Steve was filling in for Kelly the admin who was out on medical leave for a projected eight weeks. Derrick showed Steve how to sign into the network and then promised to introduce him around after lunch. Then he disappeared into his office.

Steve always felt a little odd working at someone else’s desk, with their photos and clippings pinned to cubicle walls. But a temp job is a temp job. Steve sorted through the work left in his inbox as well as the list of projects. He had thought from the way Derrick talked that Kelly had only gone on leave a few days before. But it became very clear that Kelly the Admin had been on leave for a much longer time based on the amount of work facing Steve.

While he started prioritizing his tasks, one of the staff approached with a folder. She was a very pretty woman with pinned-up brown hair and a warm smile. “Hi, I’m Jane Foster,” she said, holding her hand out. “I guess you’re the temp?”

He shook her hand and noted her title on her badge. “Steve Rogers, Dr. Foster. How can I help you?”

“Jane will do. We all have too many titles and degrees here. I have a travel request.” She handed over the folder. She pushed back her hair, which was escaping out of her bun.

“I’ll get on it. Deadline?”

“Soon as you can, please. There’s conference I’d like to go to and the registration deadline is coming up.”

“Okay.” He set the folder down. “Can I help with anything else?”

“No, not now. See you around. It’s going to be nice to have admin help,” she replied.

Derrick never came by after lunch to show Steve around. By mid-afternoon, Steve realized that he had not seen Derrick at all since Derrick showed him to his desk. It was Jane who came to his rescue. She stopped by his cubicle. “The natives are getting restless -- there’s rumor we have a temp admin and they’ve never seen one in the wild before. So let me show you around.”

“Thanks,” Steve said gratefully. 

Research Group D occupied half the 25th floor; staff cubicles were organized around a very large server room and a couple of meeting rooms, with one cubicle designated as the coffee cubicle. Jane explained that the Research Group had been formed about five years ago but she only joined them a year ago. The Research Group was designed to work with NASA, specifically on satellite and deep space projects. Jane mentioned that she was hoping to work at an university but the academic job market was very tight and she did not have the grant writing (and getting) experience she needed to land a job. So working for Hammer Industries right now was the best option for the astrophysicist.

Jane then added, “We share space on this floor with the radiation research group. I usually have lunch with one of the researchers there, Bruce. Maybe you could join us sometime.”

By the end of the day, Steve had a good handle on the job. Thanks to Jane, he had met most of the people he’d be working with, knew where the large staff break rooms were, and the best places to sneak in a phone call. Personal phone calls were not allowed so everyone used their cell phones in the stairwells or in a corner of a staff break room. Overall, it all seemed not particularly extraordinary. Steve figured he could handle a few routine weeks there.

 

When he got back home, Sam had already ordered Chinese take-out and was settling down to dinner. “How did your day go?” Sam asked. Steve paused. “That good?” 

Steve shook his head. “It’s got to be the strangest place I’ve ever worked.” He told Sam about the security precautions and the very unfriendly atmosphere. “I’m also getting the feeling that they really cut corners. I have a quota on the amount of office supplies I can order as well a list of banned items that I can’t. There’s got to be a story there -- maybe the researchers binged on ordering special pens from space or something.” He loaded up a plate with food from the boxes. “I don’t know. I’ll have to see how things turn out.”

“Some places are just bad places to work,” Sam suggested.

“Hmmm. There’s more to it though. I’ve had bad assignments before but I just get this odd feeling about the place.” 

“I suppose you could put up with anything as long as they don’t ask to you to steal or murder.”

“Maybe.” Steve shrugged.

After dinner, Steve decided to learn more about Hammer Industries. Before starting the job, he had done a cursory internet search to learn a little about the corporation, enough to understand where he would be working. But now he was very curious. In a short time, he learned a lot about Hammer Industries, especially the founder and CEO, Justin Hammer. Hammer Industries was primarily a military and government contractor and a second tier energy, satellite, and electronics company in comparison to Stark Industries. Justin Hammer seemed to announce a lot of projects and products with a specific focus on besting Tony Stark.

During his research, Steve also ran across a gossip story titled “Stark’s Wild Weekend in New York,” complete with pictures of a disheveled Tony with two starlets and a supermodel without much clothing outside a nightclub at two am last Saturday morning. Steve frowned a little, especially since the article implied Stark had taken at least one of the women back to his hotel and she was not seen leaving. He searched a little more. He found another brief story about a charity event Stark had attended with his assistant Pepper Friday night and a fashion blog entry about Pepper’s shoes. There were a few other news items about Tony in New York, mainly paparazzi photographs of Tony alone and with other celebrities taken late at night and early in the morning. From some of the photographs taken near coffee shops, it looked like Tony sure loved coffee.

Steve wondered what he had gotten himself into.


	4. Confusing News

After Sunday breakfast, Steve stared at his calendar trying to conjure up an additional few hours to his week. He needed to schedule a block of three to four hours to work on his art nearly every day. His temp job with the commute took up a significant block of time. He somehow fit in time for his regular gym workouts or runs. He also had a weekly class on drawing on Tuesdays. The weekends were full of errands, grocery store trips, laundry runs, and the occasional night out with Sam and other friends. He thrived on the tight regular schedule but now he needed to figure out how to find more time in order to finish up the commission artwork for the upcoming charity auction. 

He had survived his first week at Hammer Industries. While taking a long swig of his coffee, Steve thought about maybe quitting the assignment. Quitting would free up some time and he could maybe muddle through without the money. A couple recent sales of artwork paid for his rent for the next four months. But it might be too tight without the additional income, plus he would have to line up another assignment sooner than he usually preferred. So after considering all options, he had to admit that he was stuck at Hammer for now. He would have to rearrange a few things and spend more time on the art during the weekends. Sam would be willing to help out for a short time with errands.

Then out of the blue, Tony called and upset the apple cart. He was upfront with the reason for calling -- he wanted to know if Steve was free on a Friday in a couple of weeks. He was planning to come out to New York then and he mentioned it would be great to see Steve. Steve agonized. He was committed already to a party a friend from his drawing class was throwing that night. He should say no, offer a different night, but Tony said he was only free on Friday. Tony should not have this hold over him, Steve thought, in the short amount of time they knew each other. His stomach fluttered the minute he heard Tony’s husky and resonant voice. He had almost said yes the minute Tony asked. But he did not want to disappoint his friends.

“Are you in or not, Steve?” Tony asked. Steve swore Tony almost sounded worried.

“I’m free that night,” Steve lied. He was going to hell, he knew it.

“Great! I’ll call when I’m in New York and we can figure something out. See you soon, blondie,” Tony replied jauntily.

Steve went back to his calendar and moved a few things around. He felt he was a jerk for ditching the party, even though none of his friends would hold it against him. That still did not make his decision any better.

 

At Hammer, Steve noticed an odd thing. He was getting to know the other admins during the course of his work. He noticed that none of the admins seemed to have worked there longer than three years. He wondered why. Workplaces generally function better with experienced admins around, especially since admins know a lot about what really is going on.

He asked Jane about it when they were having lunch with her friend, Bruce Banner.

Bruce, a rumpled dark-haired scientist, said, “I think the admins aren’t sticking around because this place pays badly.”

“Really?” Steve asked.

“You haven’t noticed how cheap Hammer is?” Jane asked.

“I’ve noticed a few things here and there,” Steve admitted. He had to turn down Jane’s request for office supplies the day before.

“They’ve been bringing in temp admins for a long time,” Bruce said. “I guess The Powers That Be don’t want to pay for permanent employees.”

“Hmmm,” Steve said.

“You weren’t hoping to work here, Steve?” Bruce asked worriedly.

Jane jumped in and said, “No, he likes being a temp. He’s really an artist.” She looked around and then said very softly, “No one wants to be here, Steve.”

Bruce said equally softly, “Hammer is like the place of last resort. I know some people who decided to work for Advanced Idea Mechanics before taking a job here. They have generous death benefits for their researchers.” Bruce shuddered.

“It’s that bad?”

Both Jane and Bruce nodded. “It’s hard to find work outside academics right now. And the best places aren’t hiring,” Jane said.

“Stark Industries don’t even advertise their jobs. They call you if they want to fill a position,” Bruce added. “All you can hope for is that you know someone who works there. Or they notice your work somehow.”

So during his second week, Steve was not surprised when he was asked by Human Resources to pack up Kelly’s belongings and bring the box to HR. Nor when he was asked to help out with supporting the Radiation Research Group when their admin unexpectedly went on leave. He cheerfully helped with the phones and managing purchasing orders for Radiation, very glad to know that his assignment would end eventually.

Steve rarely saw his supposed supervisor Derrick, except for the time Derrick asked him to bring a contract up to the CEO’s office. Steve was surprised to find that the CEO’s office suite was not furnished differently from anywhere else in Hammer. It had the same cheap and nondescript office furniture as everywhere else and was decorated with what could be charitably called hotel art. He had been directed to deliver the contract to Justin Hammer’s executive assistant only. He found her in Justin’s empty office. The very harassed looking EA was sitting with a tablet in one corner of the office. She smiled wearily at Steve when he handed over the file. “When is it due?”

“Derrick never said,” Steve replied truthfully.

She shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

Steve nodded. He looked around the office and noticed the dart board in the corner with Tony Stark’s picture with a dart sticking out.

The EA saw where Steve was looking and sighed. “Tony Stark is a bad bad word around here, Steve.”

“I guess,” Steve said.

Walking back to his cubicle, Steve felt extremely awkward about working at a place where the CEO hated the guy Steve was sort of seeing. He called his agency about maybe getting another assignment but they did not have one for him. And then his contact made it clear that they wanted Steve to stay in his current assignment. If he left, they would put him at the bottom of the to-call list, even with his notable office skills. Steve looked at the calendar and vowed to tough it out. Another eight weeks would not be that bad, hopefully.

 

Eating lunch with Jane and Bruce was now a regular thing. They met in a little used staff break room; the other break rooms were larger and had better microwaves, coffee makers and chairs. And occasionally they were lucky enough to have the place to themselves.

Bruce had worked for Hammer for more than four years. He loved his work – researching the effects of radiation for the application in medical technology – and he said that Hammer had been a good place to work when he had started there.

"Hammer had always competed with Stark Industries for military contracts. But now both companies are competing over biotech and clean energy technologies. The main source of income for Hammer, besides the government, used to be consumer electronics. But after Tony Stark took over Stark Industries, Stark now dominates the consumer electronics sector,” Bruce explained.

“Tony Stark?” Steve asked blandly, trying to hide his interest.

Bruce said, “Everyone in our business knows Tony Stark. He calls himself an engineer, but he really is an unparalleled genius in applied science. He graduated ridiculously early from MIT with multiple doctorates. He has this amazing ability to translate theory into working technology.”

“Justin is not even in the same league as Stark,” Jane added. “In many areas, we’re just playing catch-up. Actually, I’m surprised that we haven’t had layoffs yet or worse. I’ve heard from a friend in Sales that Hammer hasn’t been selling all that much. The place is being kept afloat with military contracts somehow.”

Bruce shrugged. “We manage to keep the lab equipment going with spit, gum and duct tape in Radiation. We’ve had some successes.”

“Totally due to Bruce,” Jane offered. “But we’re in trouble with Research Group D. If we don’t get any traction with NASA, we’re probably toast.”

“Oh,” Steve said worriedly. “That’s not good.”

Jane shook her head. “There’s an upside. If I lose my job here, I’ll just go back to New Mexico and live with Thor until the next job comes up. Have to admit, I’m ready for our long distance relationship to not be long distance.” Jane always brightened up when she mentioned her longtime boyfriend.

Bruce said, “That’s why we keep our heads down and keeping working. But, let’s talk about something happier. How’s the art going, Steve?”

 

A few days after the lunch conversation, Steve was working at his easel when Tony called. “Hey, gorgeous, what are you up too?”

“Just here trying to figure out shading.”

Tony asked seriously, “Is it hard?”

“Depends on if I can get the effect I’m seeing in my mind onto the canvas. If I go in one direction and I don’t like it, going to be hard to fix. I don’t know if I want to go with some darker colors in this one area. Too dark and I distort the overall look. Not dark enough it looks unrealistic. Now, I’m not sure exactly what I’m going for with the light/dark contrast here .… ” Steve was completely embarrassed as he talked more incoherently about his current problem. He was stuck though and had to figure out where he was going.

Unexpectedly, Tony said very sympathetically, “I’ve been there. Well, with code, not so much paint.”

“Yeah,” Steve replied, feeling a little defeated.

“Hey -- about Friday – I was wondering if you might have ideas? We could have dinner in your neck of the woods,” Tony suggested.

Steve’s mind suddenly blanked. He could not think of anything that might be interesting to whatever Tony was – either brilliant engineer or celebrity playboy or both. He blurted out, “There’s a great pizza place around the corner. Maybe we could catch a movie?” It sounded so lame.

Tony laughed. “That sounds great. How about I come by around 8?”

“That would work.” Steve was shocked. “The pizza place isn’t that fancy.”

“I can do Not Fancy. Don’t expect a Tom Ford suit though.”

Steve had seen pictures of Tony in his expensive suits. Tony always looked very very good in them. A definite loss for Steve. “Okay.” God, he sounded like a complete idiot, Steve thought.

“Got to go, Steve,” Tony said hurriedly. Steve could hear some sort of mechanical noise in the background. “See you in a couple of days.”

 

On Friday afternoon, Steve started to untangle the pile of lab equipment orders. Jane’s group generally ordered computer parts while Bruce’s group ordered actual equipment. There was something not right with the orders. Some of the researchers told Steve that they had not received what they had ordered. Steve did not know the ins and outs of what he was ordering, but he could match up serial numbers, part and purchase order numbers. And he was not able to match up about half the orders. He suspected that there was a mix-up in the receiving room and no one had bothered to check when the items were delivered. But he would not be able to fix the problem right now, given that it was Friday afternoon.

He checked his phone. Usually he never watched the clock at work, but Steve was very excited about tonight and time had seemed to crawl all day. It was finally five and the end of the day. He gathered all his stuff quickly and raced to the elevators.

In the elevator, one of the researchers looked over Steve, “You seem to be in a rush. Hot date tonight?”

Steve blushed a little. “Yes. I hope so.” He really really did.


	5. A Date in Brooklyn

Friday evening turned out to be one of those wonderful mid-summer evenings, warm, but not too hot, with a little humidity and a slight breeze. Steve opened the living room windows while he went over his mental checklist. Steve showered and picked out a clean, ironed blue button-down shirt and his best jeans. He had the apartment to himself since Sam had plans with his family. He checked his phone for movie times and messages. Then he quickly neatened up the apartment, in case Tony came back after dinner and a movie. He took a deep breath and waited.

A little time after eight, he glanced out the window and saw an expensive town car pull up in front of his apartment building. Tony popped out of the back door of the car and bent over to talk to the driver through the window. Steve’s breath caught in his throat as he noted that Tony was wearing very fashionably tight jeans and a maroon shirt. He looked very nice, Steve thought, and maybe very nice was a major understatement. Tony stood up and the car pulled away. Steve could not see him walk up to the building doors but he heard when Tony hit the button to be buzzed in.

Tony strode into Steve’s apartment with a big smile, a hug and quick kiss for Steve. Tony looked around, taking in the apartment. Steve quickly showed him around the two bedroom place. “So, would you like dinner or movie first?” Steve asked.

“What were you thinking of?” Tony said looking up from his intense observation of Steve’s television set-up.

“Well, there’s an art house theater around the corner showing _Metropolis_.”

Tony thought for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve actually seen the whole movie. Sure. Let’s do that.”

After the movie, Steve suggested going to his favorite pizza place near the theater, where the two of them talked about movies over pizza and beer. Steve mentioned that he had recently become interested in silent films because he thought that the visual language was interesting. Tony, not surprisingly for an engineer, always had a fondness for robots in films.

Steve laughed and said, “You talk about sci-fi movies like they are documentaries.”

Tony snorted. “I’m all about the ideas, Steve. Sci-fi should be about ideas for the future and where we can go with technology.”

“So you’re optimistic about the future? What about dystopias? Or when the machines take over ...”

“It’s more like I’m optimistic about what technology can do,” Tony said, and proceeded to share his recent projects with Steve, including his latest work with artificial intelligence.

There was no end of things to talk about through dinner and dessert. Tony got very excited when he talked about technology and what he was working on. Several times, Steve found himself smiling at Tony’s enthusiasm. Steve enjoyed sitting close to Tony, feeling his knee and foot brush against his, and catching glimpses of Tony’s neck and collarbone through the open v-neck of his shirt.

Later, as they were on their way back, Tony stopped and pulled Steve into a busy bar. Tony greeted everyone in the bar like they were his long lost friends. He flashed a dazzling smile at Steve as he sent Steve off to order drinks. When Steve came back with the order, he found Tony standing with a large, happy group of people telling an elaborate story complete with hand gestures. Steve held back to watch as Tony came to the punch line. Glowing from the crowd’s attention, Tony seemed completely at home. He caught sight of Steve and waved. When Steve arrived at Tony’s side, Tony took his drink, and slid his arm around Steve’s waist as he kept talking loudly and gesturing energetically. They stayed for another drink and then Tony asked if Steve was ready to leave.

Walking back down the street towards Steve’s apartment, Steve held Tony’s hand in his. People enjoying the brilliant summer night filled the sidewalks, lit with the golden glow from the open restaurant and bar windows. They passed by urban trees in full leaf and plantings of summer flowers. They wandered past outdoor seating overflowing with people, making Tony lean in closer to Steve to avoid tripping. Everything was so alive and beautiful and Steve had a fantastic guy on his arm. His heart soared. Tony talked a blue streak all the way back to the apartment. Steve could only smile, letting the flood of words wash over him. He glanced over at the animated Tony, who looked up at Steve, his eyes sparkling. Steve kissed him there in the street.

There was no doubt that Tony would be coming up to Steve’s apartment. While Steve went to get something to drink from the kitchen, Tony sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Then he asked about the Xbox on the floor.

Steve shook his head. “One of Sam’s cousins kicked it and it hasn’t worked well since. Do you play video games?”

“No, I actively avoid them. I don’t need another thing to obsess over.”

“Can’t be that bad,” Steve said lightly as he sat down next to Tony and handed him a beer.

Tony laughed. “You have no idea. I get so involved in my workshop I don’t surface for days. Video games would be just as bad.” He leaned his body into Steve’s.

They could not agree on what to watch. When Steve left a forgettable movie on, Tony seized the opportunity and kissed him. Steve dropped the remote and opened eagerly into the kiss. Tony pushed Steve back against the couch arm and wriggled around to lay on top of Steve. As Tony kissed along Steve’s jaw and neck, Steve caressed Tony’s sides, daring to stroke over his ass before starting to work his shirt out of his pants. Tony’s hand was on Steve’s waist, his fingers sliding under the waistband of Steve’s jeans. Steve melted under Tony’s warm weight, and his hips rolled up against Tony’s before he could stop himself.

Steve was thinking that the evening was getting more interesting when the phone rang, interrupting them with a loud jangle. He disentangled himself from Tony and went to answer the phone on the kitchen counter. Tony sat up and looked very confused. Steve pulled himself together enough to pick up the phone and say, “Sam Wilson’s phone.”

The caller turned out to be an angry Bucky, who immediately launched into a tirade about something that Steve could not follow.

Steve sighed and darted a quick look over at Tony. “Bucky, look, um, I’m in the middle of something now.”

Bucky spat back, “Painting or something?”

Steve glanced up at Tony who was now roving around Steve’s living room and inspecting Steve’s television and Xbox. “No. I have company.”

“Company? Ohhhh, you mean you have a date? You have an actual, live, real guy in your apartment right now?”

“Yes.” Steve rubbed his hand over his face. “A real date. Real guy.” Tony looked up at Steve with a broad smile and waved a screwdriver at him. Steve wondered where Tony had found the screwdriver. 

“Ah, man, sorry about interrupting. Hey, is your guy that guy Peggy told me about? The one you were interested in?”

Tony was doing something to the Xbox with the mysterious screwdriver. Steve replied, “Yep, same guy. When can I call you back?”

“Later tonight, your time?”

Steve wondered why everyone was trying to kill him. “No, Bucky, can’t -- busy.” Tony had opened up the console and was intently poking at something in the interior.

Bucky laughed. “Oh, man, that good? Alright. Go get lucky, Steve. Call me Tuesday.”

“Okay, talk to you then. Don’t use this phone again.” Bucky only laughed and hung up.

Steve walked back over to the couch and watched Tony work on the console. “Um, I’m sorry about that. My roommate Sam is on call sometimes for work and he wanted a landline so he wouldn’t miss a call. I thought it might be his work calling for him and had to answer the phone. It was just my friend Bucky though.”

Tony shrugged from where he was bent over the console. “Your friend seemed surprised that you had a guy over?” He put the console back together and put it on the shelf.

“A little. My friends worry about me. I don’t go out much,” Steve said, suddenly feeling vulnerable. He was not sure how much he wanted to share with Tony but for some reason he could not keep his mouth shut around him. 

Tony came back to the couch and snugged up to Steve. He gave Steve a soft, quick kiss on his mouth. “Don’t see why you’d have a problem. I’d think you’d have to beat people off with a stick.”

Steve’s arm went around Tony’s waist to pull him closer. “My friends think I’m too picky and demanding. But I’m just waiting for the right guy.”

“Good thing I fixed your Xbox, then,” Tony murmured as he shifted into a better position to kiss Steve again. “Prove myself useful.”

“Where did you get the screwdriver?” Steve asked. He drifted his hand down Tony’s side to rest on his ass.

Tony laughed. “I have my ways. I’m dangerous with a screwdriver.” He kissed Steve, pressing to open Steve’s mouth. “And you can’t imagine what I can get up to with a wrench,” he said very suggestively.

They returned to making out on the couch. Tony was a very, very good kisser, Steve realized. He managed to pull Tony’s shirt off and he got an eyeful of Tony’s warm olive skin and well-muscled shoulders. Tony struggled to unbutton Steve’s shirt and take it off. Then he slid his hand between Steve’s legs. Steve gasped against Tony’s lips and kissed Tony harder, as Tony began to stroke over Steve’s jeans. Then Tony broke away to nuzzle Steve’s shoulder and say hopefully, “Can we go to bed now?”

“Yes,” Steve said breathlessly. Tony stood and reached down to pull Steve up from the couch and into his arms. They continued to kiss as Tony finally worked Steve’s shirt off. Then they tried to walk to Steve’s room, stopping every few steps to kiss, to grip, stroke and touch while undressing each other. Blood had rushed to Steve’s head and he was dizzy with want and desire. When they reached the hallway, Tony pushed him up against the wall and Steve muzzily tried to warn Tony about the artwork propped up against the wall before any damage happened. Tony throatily murmured how gorgeous Steve was, and that he couldn’t wait to show him exactly what he wanted to do to him once they reached the bedroom. Tony guided Steve’s hand to his pants, and it didn’t take long for Steve to undo the fly and slip his hand inside Tony’s boxers.

Tony pulled Steve away from the wall and they finally made it to the bedroom, Tony’s jeans barely clinging to his hips and Steve only in his jeans. Still kissing Steve, Tony kicked off his shoes, pulled off his remaining clothes, and sat down on the bed, guiding Steve to stand between his legs. Tony broke the kiss to move down to nuzzle Steve’s hip bones and press an open-mouthed kiss to the skin just above Steve’s waistband. He unbuttoned and unzipped Steve’s jeans and tugged the jeans down Steve’s legs before leaning forward to kiss Steve through the thin fabric of his boxers. “So, baby, how do you want to do this?” Tony asked huskily, looking up at Steve through dark lashes.

Steve did not answer, but shrugged out of his jeans and boxers, and climbed onto the bed. He moved to the top near the headboard, Tony helping to stack the pillows for him. Tony licked his lips and leered at Steve. “I’ve been thinking of you, like this, eager for me, wanting whatever I give you,” he said, his voice low and rough. Steve found himself hardening even further at the promise implicit in his tone. Tony crawled up the bed, slowly insinuating himself between Steve’s legs. He bent down to kiss and tongue along the sides of Steve’s knees and then his thighs. Gently pushing Steve’s legs further apart, Tony nuzzled and kissed the sensitive skin of his inner thighs, his hands running over the taut muscles. 

Steve threw his head back as Tony reached out and began to stroke his cock. Looking up at Steve through half-lidded eyes, Tony sucked him in and Steve groaned at the sudden wet heat. This was completely unlike anything he had experienced before. He watched Tony’s head begin to bob up and down, until he could hardly keep his eyes open at the incredible intensity of the sensations that Tony was giving him. Tony glanced up at Steve and their eyes locked as Steve gasped and bucked his hips slightly into Tony’s greedy mouth. Tony did not hesitate to relax his throat to take Steve in deeper. Steve fisted his hands in Tony’s hair and gave a loud moan that he could not suppress. Before he could even think to warn Tony, he came, his back arched and muscles taut, and his whole body shuddering in ecstasy. But Tony was very good at this and easily swallowed, then released Steve before he became too sensitive.

Sliding up along Steve’s body, Tony caressed Steve’s abs and then his chest, his fingers drifting over Steve’s nipples. They kissed lazily and Steve could taste lingering traces of himself on Tony’s lips and in his mouth. Steve moved his hand down to grip Tony, smoothing precome down his length, and began to stroke and rub with the same pressure he used on himself. He felt Tony smile against his lips as they kissed. Steve moved his hand faster, rubbing his thumb over the head of Tony’s cock until Tony orgasmed. Moaning softly, satiated and loose-limbed, Tony settled against Steve.

Eventually Steve gathered himself enough to get up for something to clean themselves off. When he returned to the bedroom, he leaned against the doorway to watch Tony stretch out on the bed and claim a pillow. Steve could hardly believe that he got to sleep next to all that tonight. Tony was amazing, and gorgeous from head to toe. But first, he needed to clean them up with a wet washcloth and maybe get some caresses in before sleep. Once settled into his bed, Steve felt very lucky as he drifted off to sleep.

Steve woke in the morning with an armful of Tony. Still drowsy, his fingers lightly brushed down Tony’s flank and then his cock as Tony stirred, beginning to wake up. Steve became a little bolder and started stroking. Now more awake, Tony said languidly, “You sure know how to show a boy a good time.” He turned around to face Steve and gave him a messy kiss while Steve took them both in his hand and stroked faster. Tony leaned into the crook of Steve’s shoulder and moaned. Steve pressed a kiss against his hair and stroked harder. Tony kissed and nipped at Steve’s chin, neck and shoulders, bucking against his body, his hands flexing on Steve’s hips and ass. Steve came with a loud gasp and Tony followed not long after. “Good morning,” Steve said, placing tiny kisses on the corners of Tony’s mouth. His arms still wrapped tightly around Steve, Tony replied, “Hi yourself.” 

Sated and content, Steve just grinned. They lay entwined awhile longer and Steve noticed that Tony was starting to fall back to sleep. He pulled away reluctantly but knew he needed a shower. Steve got up and began his morning routine. When he returned to his room clad only in a towel, Tony was sitting up in bed. He leered at Steve, “That’s a nice view to greet the day.”

“Are you up for breakfast? I can throw something together,” Steve offered. He ruffled Tony’s hair before moving over to grab some boxers from the dresser. 

Tony sighed. “I can eat anything if it comes with coffee.”

While Tony took a shower, Steve headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. He thought over the night with a smile. He was still confused by Tony. While Steve had a tendency to take people at face value, he valued genuineness highly. He was just getting to know Tony better and nothing seemed to add up. He worried that he was not seeing who Tony really was. Steve liked the pizzeria version of Tony very much. He thought that maybe the real Tony, unobscured by wild stories, vague rumor and scandal-seeking news clips, shone through briefly. But the bar version of Tony, the entertaining partygoer, made Steve think that there might be something to all the gossip. Steve could feel his natural sense of caution kicking in the more he pondered it all.

Tony came in with tousled wet hair and dressed in Steve’s workout clothes. He sat at the small table in the kitchen and took out his phone. Steve was making breakfast at the stove and asked Tony what he was doing. Tony replied, “Just checking today’s schedule. I’m hoping to stick around as long as possible.”

Steve handed a plate of scrambled eggs and a mug of coffee to Tony. He ventured a little joke about reading about Tony’s New York trip on internet gossip sites. 

Tony paused in eating his eggs, his face suddenly unreadable. “You can’t believe everything you read on the internet, you know,” Tony said glibly, his eyes watching Steve and his expression a little tight.

Steve knew enough not to push and sat down across from Tony with his own heaping plate. “Yeah. Not by a long shot,” Steve agreed. He watched as Tony’s shoulders relaxed.

They spent some of the morning together, Steve reading the paper and Tony attempting to play a video game. Steve jostled Tony’s shoulder when his avatar was killed off again and teased, “Bet you regret fixing it now.”

“It’s a rotten game design,” he said with a grimace. But then Tony’s cell rang. Tony kissed Steve longingly and nuzzled his neck. “That’s the driver outside. I have to go. I’ll call later.” And with that, Tony was gone.

 

Tony did not call but Pepper did. Later that Saturday night Steve was nursing a beer while he rethought the composition of his latest work. He was flipping through his sketchbooks for inspiration when his phone rang. He smiled when he saw Tony’s number, but it was not Tony on the line.

“Steve Rogers? This is Pepper Potts. I work for Tony,” Pepper said crisply. Steve could hear pulsating dance music in the background. “He wants to know if you are free for lunch tomorrow.”

“Uh, Sunday? Yeah, I’m free.”

“Good.” Then Steve heard her turn away and say, “Yes, Tony, I’ve got him on the phone. Yes, he’s free for lunch.” Pepper came back on and asked, “How about eleven tomorrow? In Central Park?”

“Sure. But where should we meet?”

“Don’t worry,” she said with what Steve thought might be a chuckle. “He’ll find you. Bye, Steve.” 

Steve drank his beer. He was thrilled at the idea of seeing Tony again so soon. But Central Park was a large place. He decided he should play it safe and stick to the area near the MET. And maybe not get his hopes up in case Tony likely got sidetracked and could not make lunch.

The next day Steve was proven wrong. Tony found Steve as he sat on his usual bench sketching the trees. Seeing Steve’s quizzical look, Tony held up his phone and said, “GPS. And here’s your lunch.” He handed Steve a large white paper bag.

Steve suspected that lunch did not come from a fast food restaurant but someplace fancier that did not do takeout regularly, unless it was for Tony Stark. Tony settled down next to him and squeezed his knee. Steve smiled back and unpacked the takeout lunch. 

“I didn’t think I’d get to see you before you went back to California,” Steve said between bites of his burger. The burger and fries were amazing.

Tony started on his fries. “Something opened up suddenly last night. I have a meeting over at the MET at one though.”

It was a beautiful summer day with clear blue skies and bright sun slanting in through the leaves of the trees. They sat and chatted about nothing in particular while they finished lunch. Steve scooted to sit closer to Tony so that he was sitting as close as he could and still draw. He started to sketch Tony as he leaned back with his face tilted to the sun.

“You know, the great thing about New York is that you can be anonymous in the crowd,” Tony said suddenly.

“Hmm?” Steve asked. He was concentrating on his sketch.

“There are so many famous people who live here or visit, it ends up that if you are famous, you can still fade into the crowd. I couldn’t do this back in Malibu, and definitely not in LA.”

Tony started to stretch and yawn and shifted his body on the bench. He leaned over to watch Steve draw. Steve was going to have to work faster if Tony was determined to fidget.

“I’m not announcing this for another week or so. But I decided this week to go ahead with moving my corporate offices back to New York.”

“Really?” Steve gave Tony his full attention and put down his pencil.

“Yeah. It’s a lot of work. I have to retrofit Stark Tower for my apartment and workshop. Then figure out what I’m moving out from Malibu and when. It’s a big deal.”

“Wow.” Steve immediately thought he could see Tony more often if he was in New York.

Tony put his hand on Steve’s thigh. “Yeah, you might have to put up with me regularly.” He gave Steve a kiss. “But you’ll finally get to see the ‘bots.”

“I’d like that.” Steve wondered what Tony’s workshop looked like. He obviously spent a lot of time there. He leaned into another kiss.

“It’s almost one. I have to go meet the architects. I’m off to California tomorrow.”

“Call me when you get home.”

Tony chuckled and gave Steve a quick kiss. “You bet, gorgeous. I had a terrific weekend.” 

Steve watched Tony walk off. He had a great weekend too. He was already missing Tony and he had just barely walked out of sight. 

With a sigh, he returned to his sketch, determined to capture the intelligent glint in Tony’s dark eyes.


	6. More Stories

Mondays could be awful, Steve thought when he returned to work from the weekend. Right away he had a number of phone calls and various other support requests which kept him busy all morning. At lunch Jane teased him unmercifully about his weekend with his mysterious friend. And he thought he maybe should not have set up Google alerts about Tony because of the flood of stories he saw when he surreptitiously checked his phone later, hoping to see a text from Tony. It was late afternoon before he had time to turn his attention to the pile of unreconciled equipment orders from Friday. He needed to untangle the problem, especially since part of his morning was spent trying to track down two orders for equipment needed in the lab.

By the end of the day Steve had figured out most of the problems. Some equipment requests had been lost and had in fact never been ordered. Those he sent to Purchasing. He had to send a few orders back to the requestors because the paperwork had not been filled out correctly. Once the easy problems were sorted, he was left with five problem orders. He would have to go to Purchasing and the Mail Room or Receiving to track down those orders in the morning.

As Steve was quietly packing up to go home he heard Derrick talking to someone in his office. Steve’s attention was caught when he heard his name. 

Derrick said, “I’m not worried. Steve’s a good admin.”

The other person replied, “He’s been working on your Group’s equipment orders.”

“Well, some orders got lost and the researchers need some parts or other.” 

The other said something Steve couldn’t quite catch but heard Derrick sneer, “Oh, please, have you seen him? Steve’s very pretty and pretty vacant. He’s good at answering phones, but I doubt he has the brain cells to find out what you’re worried about. For god’s sake, he’s a hippy artist type. No chance he’ll figure it out. He’s only here long enough to get the researchers off my back about admin support. Once they stop complaining, I’ll get rid of him.”

Wishing he had never heard Derrick’s conversation, Steve slipped quietly out of the office to avoid running into his supervisor. He tried to put what he had overheard out of his mind. To be honest, he was a little hurt that he was considered not smart enough to be taken seriously. Shortly afterward, as he continued parsing the conversation, Steve realized Derrick and his visitor were talking about something they were hiding that they did not want him to find. Well, Steve thought, he just might have to make the effort now.

The day did not improve once he got home. Sam was sympathetic and encouraging as any good friend would be after Steve told him about what Derrick had said. But Sam also asked about Steve’s date with “Mr. California,” as Peggy had dubbed Tony. Bucky had been texting Sam and Peggy since Friday and Peggy had been after Sam for details. “She’s very persistent, Steve,” Sam said. “And I’d like to know who he is too, if he’s staying over in our apartment.”

“It’s okay, Sam,” Steve sighed, figuring he could give his friends a little info. “His name is Tony, he works for a tech firm in California, and he’s a nice guy.” He paused. “I don’t really know where this is going. I’ve never had a long distance anything before, much less a relationship. I’ve only seen him a few times. If I see him again, I’ll tell you more.” At Sam’s skeptical look Steve added, “I swear.” He pointed across the room to distract Sam. “See, he fixed the Xbox.”

 

On Tuesday before he could go down to the mail room, the admins from the 24th and 26th floors grabbed Steve for a going away party for one of the admins leaving for a new job. Since they had no intention of eating in a break room, the lunch was in a restaurant in the building next door. Steve was having a great time as the admins swapped amusing stories about their families and their weekends with some office gossip sprinkled in.

Then Kesha, one of the 24th floor admins, looked warily around the restaurant before speaking. “So, did you hear Ellen got fired this morning?”

“Ellen?” one of the admins gasped. “She’s worked for Justin Hammer like forever. What happened?”

Feeling safe knowing that no one else from Hammer was around, Kesha warmed up to her story. “I heard it all started Saturday night. Hammer ran into Tony Stark at that big car show and they had a fight. Or something like that, maybe just a loud argument -- I didn’t hear what really happened. Anyway, Hammer told Ellen to call up her newspaper friends and plant some stories about Stark on some gossip sites. And she said no.”

“But she’s never had a problem before. I saw that blind item on Page 8 in The Bugle, and thought it was the usual thing Ellen sends out,” an 26th floor admin said.

Steve must have looked a little confused, so Neely, the admin on his left, opened a link to The Bugle on her phone. The item read, _Those in the know say that a certain tech billionaire couldn’t get a date this past weekend because, as everyone knows, his bedroom missiles can’t get off the launch pad._

“Why do you think this is about Tony Stark?” he asked her.

“It’s always about Tony Stark,” she said with a grin. “Hammer thinks that having his PAs call in blind items about Stark’s sex life to reporters is funny. That’s what Ellen says. She’s not particularly clever about it so we figure that the clunky blinds are hers.”

Kesha took up the conversation. “What I heard is that Ellen told Hammer that she wasn’t going to do the blind item thing any more and that Hammer should focus on his business instead of speculating whether Tony Stark was dating an actress or supermodel.”

“Good for her,” another admin said. “But she still got fired,” someone pointed out. The rest of lunch involved a discussion about who would fill Ellen’s job because no one at the table wanted it.

As they walked back to work, Steve asked Neely about blind items.

Neely laughed. “It’s fun to guess blind items. I think most of them are made up for either attention or revenge. Or they’re just exaggerations. Who knows, really? It’s just gossip -- nobody should take any of it seriously.” She shrugged and then said conspiratorially to Steve. “But let me tell you -- if Tony Stark ever asked me out, I’d say yes. He seems like he’d be lots of fun.”

“Based on gossip?”

“I see what you did there, Steve,” she laughed.

That afternoon, Steve took his pile of problem orders down to the mail room after Purchasing could not help him. He told Brenda, the mail room manager, what he was looking for. She explained that Receiving handled materials and supplies that needed a forklift or special handling and everything else went through the mail room. She then showed Steve a locked room where she stored unclaimed packages and other mail.

After rummaging through the packages, he located two of the misplaced orders. The packages were not delivered to his research groups due to poor addressing. However, he still could not find the other three. He found it strange that there so many unclaimed packages and wondered why nothing had been sent back to the suppliers yet. Then he found a box on a bottom shelf that seemed to match one of his orders. When he opened the box to confirm the match, he saw that the box was full of memory modules stamped Stark Industries. At least there was an invoice in the box. Next to that box was another box that looked like it might be a match for a missing order. Steve opened that box and found a lot of strange parts, all of them also marked Stark Industries. But the box had his purchase order numbers. 

Steve decided to take the boxes back to his cubicle to look over the invoices more carefully. On his way out he waved to Brenda, who asked if he found his boxes. He said yes, lifting up the boxes to show her. “You’re a lucky man, Steve,” she said. “Purchasing will come by any day to clear out everything left here longer than 30 days.”

Returning to his cubicle, Steve had a lot of phone messages to answer and some forms needing immediate attention. He left the open boxes on a nearby work surface. When Jane stopped by to say hi, she saw the box with the memory modules. “Thanks, Steve!” she exclaimed. “You found my order.”

Steve checked the order form to confirm that it was Jane’s order. “Then it’s yours.”

Jane looked at the modules. “Wow, someone ordered Stark tech instead. We’re usually stuck with what Hammer Industries makes.” Steve was surprised at how happy she was.

“There’s a difference?”

“Oh, you betcha.” Jane leaned in closer to Steve and said in a low voice, “Stark parts always last longer and are better made. I ordered replacement memory modules because the Hammer versions were failing.” She looked closer at the box. “Hmmm, there’s more here than I ordered.” She looked at the invoice. “And there are three different types of memory modules.”

“Do you know what these parts are?” Steve showed her the other box. “The purchase order numbers match up with the invoices, but the contents don’t match.”

She shook her head as she looked at the parts. “Bruce might know.”

Steve stopped by Bruce’s cubicle the next day with the box of mystery parts. Bruce replied quickly, “Oh, these are parts for night vision goggles.”

Steve looked at the invoice. “Hmmm, this order was supposed to be lenses. From Hammer Industries.”

“Parts from Hammer?” Bruce asked, holding up a part clearly stamped Stark.

Steve replied, “Regardless of what people order, I’m supposed to fill the orders with similar parts from Hammer. Or Purchasing will change the order on their end. So I’m not sure how this happened.”

Bruce shrugged. “Things have been mixed up in Purchasing before with orders. This time we ended up with Stark parts instead.”

“Someone would have ordered this?”

“Yeah, probably one of the engineering research groups,” Bruce replied. He noticed Steve’s questioning look. “They probably ordered the parts so they could do some reverse engineering and figure out what the Stark people are doing right.” He picked up one of the goggle parts. “This could be new technology that isn’t out in any market yet. We have some engineers here who could figure out how Stark did it and manufacture similar parts.”

“Thanks,” Steve said. He took the box back. He would figure out what to do with the parts later. He was not entirely certain about Bruce’s blithe assumption that Purchasing made the mistake. All the paperwork matched up except for the box contents. The box and invoice had all the right purchase order numbers and the invoice indicated that box contained lenses. There was something not right here, and he wanted to figure it out.

 

One night later that week, Steve sat on the couch, nearly drifting off to sleep, when he was startled awake by his phone ringing. On the other end, Tony said, “Hi there.”

Steve smiled at hearing his captivating voice. “Hey, Tony.”

“I remember you saying something about your temp job ending in a few weeks?”

“Yeah, it’s over in about five weeks.”

“So, when you’re free, come out to Malibu.”

Steve sat up straighter. He could do that. “That -- that would be great.”

“Yeah, well, any excuse to get you in shorts and shirtless.”

Steve blushed. “Maybe we should firm up the dates so I can buy my ticket.”

Tony laughed. “You’re killing me here, Steve. I’ll send the corporate jet.”

“Oh, I guess that would work,” Steve replied, feeling a little sheepish.

They talked some more about Steve coming out to Malibu and what Tony was up to now that he was back in California. Steve was excited about flying out to see him. He imagined what Tony would look like in swim trunks, splashing around in the ocean or lounging on the beach. Or, more than likely, lounging by the pool. Steve could see Tony now -- running his hand through his thick wavy brown hair, drink in the other hand, slightly revealing swim trunks clinging just so on his hips, muscles flexing under his tanned taut skin as he turned on his lounge chair to smile seductively at Steve, eyes flirtatious over the top of his lowered sunglasses. Steve could definitely do that.

And he could definitely fly to Malibu, too.

However, as events later turned out, he did neither.


	7. Charity Auction Fun

Steve learned early on in his temp career that being pleasant, strategically delivering cups of coffee, and offering to cover phones garnered him a lot of good will and the ready help of his fellow admins. He asked around as innocently as he could about missing, misplaced and wrong supply orders. And he got an earful. In general, about a third of all orders had a problem and some of the admins had also come across unauthorized Stark Industries parts. He smiled when one admin told him that she could not pry the Stark parts out of her researchers’ hands when Purchasing wanted them back. Everyone tended to think that Purchasing was badly run, and no one thought the amount of badly placed orders were out of the ordinary because they had dim thoughts about the competency of other people working at Hammer Industries.

Still trying to figure out why he was bothered by the numbers of problem orders and all the Stark parts, Steve looked up when someone dropped off a box at his cubicle. He carefully regarded the box and the number of post-it notes stuck all over it. He recognized his handwriting on one note and then realized that box was the box with the goggle parts. He had returned the box to Purchasing so that they could sort out what had happened to the order. But for some reason, the box was returned to Steve. Actually there were reasons for the return to Steve, he learned from reading the post-it notes. Someone had failed to fill out the appropriate customs forms to send the box to Uzbekistan. And there was a partial note indicating that the box contained air filters. Steve opened the box and it still contained the night goggle parts. This was very strange.

Steve waited until the end of the day to ask Jane and Bruce what they thought. Standing around Jane’s workstation, Steve showed his friends the notes and the box. Jane shrugged and said, “Someone probably made a mistake.”

Bruce looked troubled though . “No, why didn’t they just return the parts to the vendor? I don’t think that Stark Industries sells parts through vendors in Uzbekistan.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Steve said. “Whoever did this didn’t send back to the place it came from. I saw the invoice. And, look, they covered over some of the original labels.” He pulled at a piece of packing tape covering the original vendor’s address.

“I don’t think that you can ship parts like this to Uzbekistan,” Jane said worriedly.

Steve asked, “Why?”

“Export control laws,” Bruce replied but did not explain more. “Someone just made a mistake, like Jane said.”

“Or not,” Steve said. “I’ll just hold onto this for now.” Steve wanted to know more before he went back to Purchasing. He would need to learn more about the export control laws Bruce mentioned.

 

That night, Steve was very unproductive at his life drawing class. He could not get anything right since he was still agitated from work. And the call from Sharon reminding him about the charity auction next week did not help. Sharon pestered him about the piece he would be donating to the auction and then she added that he would need to attend the auction as well. He regretfully packed up his supplies and portfolio early, knowing he was not going to get anything done in the last hour of the class. It was not a particularly long walk home and he hoped the exercise would help calm him down.

As soon as he reached the street, his phone started vibrating. He had not looked at his phone since he left his apartment to go to class. He pulled it out and saw that he had lot of messages from Tony. The most recent one practically screamed: _IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE._

What the hell, Steve thought. He scrolled through the rest of the texts, all of which were variations on the same message. _Don’t believe what you hear. It’s all exaggeration. Reporters lie._

At least he had one message he could understand. Peggy texted back that she was on assignment so she could not talk to Steve for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, she would email Steve information on export control laws .

Once Steve got back home, he said hi to Sam and dropped off his portfolio in the living room on his way to his bedroom. He fired up his computer. He had no idea why Tony was so upset. Then he got another text: _Don’t be angry._

He started to text back that he could not get angry over something he had no idea about. Then he pulled up the entertainment news and saw all the Google alerts. An up-and-coming actress, Meaghan Something or Other -- Steve had no idea who she was and could not even name anything she starred in -- announced that she was having Tony Stark’s baby.

Steve knew he was not angry with Tony. He had no idea what was going on, but he was not feeling angry. After seeing the number of gushing reports documenting all the times that an apparently love-struck Tony Stark was seen with the actress, a stray, irrational thought crossed Steve’s mind that he would have liked to have seen a picture of him and Tony in one of the gossip pages. Steve would have been outraged had that happened. But he still felt a little jealous.

He decided to call Tony and hear what he had to say. “Hey, Tony.”

Tony sounded relieved to hear from Steve. “Look, Steve, I have no idea where to start. But I haven’t slept with her in a couple of months.” He took a deep breath. “We dated on and off for most of a year. I don’t know where this is coming from.”

Steve believed Tony. He did not know why but he could hear worry and sincerity in Tony’s voice. He did not think that Tony would have invited him to Malibu if Tony was involved with someone else. “Oh, gosh, Tony, I really don’t follow entertainment news or gossip. So I didn’t know this was going on.” He was not going to admit to the Google alerts.

Tony sighed and said gratefully, “Thanks, Steve. I didn’t know how you would take the news. I’ve got my lawyers on it so the news should die down soon.”

Since he had Tony on the phone, Steve kept talking. “So, about Malibu, what do you want to do when I come out there?”

A very relieved Tony said, “A nice long drive along the seacoast. You’ll like that.” Steve smiled listening to Tony debate the various merits of which car they could take. He had a lot of cars. And they talked for an hour before Steve had to go, begging off because of work the next morning.

 

Time flew by as the charity auction neared. Steve had to mentally set aside his “investigation” at work in order to focus on prepping his work for the auction. Tony was right about the gossip about him and the actress dying down, although there was still the occasional story which Steve ignored. He reminded himself that this auction was an important break for him, and that Sharon had worked hard on his behalf to get his piece accepted. It would be a donation, but the exposure to the expected audience was priceless.

He showed up early to the venue that Saturday in his rented tux, as directed. He watched the event planners arrange the display of his artwork and fix the lighting to show his piece at its best. Suddenly someone put hands over his eyes. “Boo,” said a voice in his ear.

“Tony!” Steve said. He turned and saw Tony looking fashionable in a bespoke tux, his eyes bright and his teeth gleaming in a wide smile. “This is a surprise.”

Tony slowly looked Steve up and down with a growing leer. “I had no idea you’d look this beautiful in a tux.” He gestured for Steve to turn around. 

Shyly, Steve turned around. “Uh, when did you get in?” He felt himself starting to be aroused by Tony’s clear admiration.

“Early this morning – I have some meetings on Monday and Tuesday about the move. And I’m on the Board of Directors for this charity. But I had no idea you were part of the auction.” Tony went up to Steve’s piece to study it carefully. “I really like this.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

Tony stepped back and looked over at Steve. “So are you free tonight?”

“Yep. The artists are just supposed to be around for the cocktail hour, not for the auction itself.”

“Great! I was just sprung from a Board meeting and now I have to see a few people. And then there’s the auction. But I’ll swing by and grab you when I’m free.” Leaning over, he kissed Steve deeply and with feeling. As he left, Tony passed Sharon who was just arriving.

Sharon came up to Steve with a surprised look on her face. “You know Tony Stark?” she asked. Steve did not reply. If he was not telling his friends about Tony, he was certainly not going to tell his agent. “Let me rephrase, how do you know Tony Stark well enough to kiss him?”

Steve had not realized Sharon had seen them. “We’ve met before,” he replied, hoping to downplay the situation.

“Steve. Are you dating Tony Stark? Because we should tell people if you are. It would be a great hook to sell your paintings.”

“No, Sharon. I’m not going to do that.”

“Come on, Steve, you have no idea about the power of celebrity. Just drop a few hints and a little innuendo. Everyone wants a little piece of Tony Stark.”

“No. I am firm on this, Sharon.”

Sharon took out her organizer, acting like she was moving on from the conversation. After a quiet few minutes, she said, “Steve. Trust me, I know best. If you tell people you’re Tony Stark’s boyfriend, your pieces will sell sight unseen. Especially if you hint your work is about your love for Tony.”

Steve was horrified at being part of this conversation. “No. I can’t say it strongly enough. No means no, Sharon. I’m not dating Tony Stark and he is certainly not my boyfriend, damnit.” 

Steve felt confident in standing his ground with Sharon. Then he glanced at the doorway and saw Tony standing there. He glimpsed a look of disappointment and hurt flash over Tony’s face and then Tony was gone. Steve had no idea how long Tony had been standing there and what he had heard. Steve had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he could not chase after him right then.

Sharon sighed. “Suit yourself, Steve. I think you are making a mistake.” She quickly turned her attention to a new arrival. “Oh, Robert, how wonderful to see you,” she gushed. “Here’s Steve, the newest artist I’m representing. Steve, this is Robert, my first and best client.” Robert and Steve shook hands. “Let’s go over tonight’s event,” Sharon continued.

Despite Sharon’s urging that they circulate in the crowd, Steve and Robert joined most of the artists in a corner during the cocktail hour. Steve had a wonderful time talking shop with the others. He looked over the crowd occasionally. He saw Tony in the middle of a crowd of people, smiling and gesturing as usual. Steve’s phone vibrated then, and he looked down at a text message from Tony: _Have to take a raincheck tonight._ Steve looked back at Tony and narrowed his eyes. He had just received a text message from someone standing twenty-five feet away in the same room. Tony could have just as easily cancelled their plans in person.

The artist standing at Steve’s right said to the group, “What’s that commotion over there?” Steve and the others turned to see a very stylishly dressed woman sweep into the room, trailing an entourage and photographer. She aimed straight for Tony, smiling broadly and taking his arm coquettishly when she reached him. Tony returned her attention with a tight smile and rigid posture. The photographer started taking pictures. Suddenly event planners and security showed up. “Oh, I’m with Tony, aren’t I, darling?” she said airily in response to questions from the planners. She leaned up and sloppily kissed a Tony who was frozen in place. The planners backed off but took the photographer with them. The woman continued to cling to Tony as if she owned him.

“I guess that must be the actress who’s been in the news,” one of the artists said. Losing interest, they returned to their conversation. Steve continued to steal an occasional glance at Tony. He could not read Tony at all right now. He wondered if Tony forgot that he had a date for the auction when he asked Steve out and if that was the reason Tony had cancelled their plans.

Robert came over and said, “Hey, Steve, do you have plans tonight?”

“No,” Steve answered truthfully.

“My wife Ann is here now and we’re wondering if you’d join us for dinner.”

“Sure. When?”

“How about now? They’re going to start the auction and it can get tedious, especially if they have speeches. Sharon will let us know how our pieces do.”

During the casual dinner at a sports bar not far from the auction venue, Robert talked about his work as a professor of studio art at a college in upstate New York. He urged Steve to consider doing a stint as an artist-in-residence at a college, telling him it was good experience and usually paid a good salary. Ann, as it turned out, had been a curator at various museums in the city, including the Museum of Modern Art. 

Ann had arrived at the auction the same time as the actress and had seen everything. “Tony must have been mortified,” she said after sipping her wine.

“Oh, you know Tony?” Steve asked.

“Mostly through his mother – I haven’t talked to him in a couple of years. The Starks have an amazing modern art collection, mostly post-war artists. Maria had a great affinity for art and Tony knows enough. He’s added some significant pieces on his own. Although I can’t forgive him for stealing my best intern, Pepper Potts, away from me.”

“So he likes these kind of events?” 

“Well, it depends. Tony supports a lot of charities – goes to a lot of events, but he doesn’t always stay long when he does. But he takes his involvement seriously and is a big philanthropist. I imagine he’ll probably write a big check tonight because of the embarrassment with that actress,” Ann said.

“Opinionated much?” Robert teased mildly.

Ann sighed into her wineglass. “It’s sad to see a young woman that desperate. I don’t know what’s going on between her and Tony, but it can’t be going well if she has to crash a charity event to get his attention.”

The conversation moved on to other topics on the art scene. Steve enjoyed dinner with Robert and Ann very much, and he agreed to keep in touch with them when they parted later that night.

 

Sharon called the next day to tell Steve that his piece had been very well received and ending up selling for far more than the estimate. “So, have you given my idea any further thought?” she asked.

Steve immediately knew what she was alluding to. “No. I gave you my answer last night.”

“I’d like to point out – “

“No, Sharon. I am willing to go to events and talk to people, even dress up in costumes if you like. But this is on me and I’m not going to exploit my friends for my career, even if it hurts my marketability.”

“Principles have consequences.”

“Yes, I am well aware of that. I’m willing to live with them.”

Sharon mentioned requests from some galleries and a possible commission. Then she asked Steve to meet in a week to discuss further plans and hung up.

Still annoyed that Sharon was pushing him to use his connection to Tony, Steve checked the news. He immediately regretted logging on the internet. There were pictures of Meaghan with Tony all over the gossip sites. Pictures of them together at the auction and at a restaurant and nightclub after the auction. Tony seemed to be having a good time, Steve thought with a pang.

He remembered the text message and it suddenly hit him – Tony might have dumped him last night. 

By text.


	8. Adrift

After the charity auction, Steve checked his phone frequently. Not a peep from Tony. Not a single response to two very tentative texts from Steve. He decided to send off one final attempt and sighed as he set down his phone. It had been four days since he had seen Tony and Steve missed him. In the brief and sporadic time he had known Tony, Tony had started to weave himself into Steve’s life and Steve could feel his absence.

Steve was confused and more hurt than he wanted to admit. Steve tried to be reserved and cautious around Tony, holding back to see how things developed. It had all seemed so promising and Steve knew he was starting to let his guard down with Tony. And now whatever was going on between them was very likely dead.

It had been four days since the auction and there were still pictures of Tony and that actress in the gossip news. He had believed Tony when he said he was not dating the actress. Tony had even wanted Steve to come to Malibu like Steve was an actual boyfriend. But now, Tony cancelling their plans on the night of the auction, and then not hearing from Tony afterward when he used to text Steve daily, made him start to believe that maybe he had been wrong about Tony. Steve was reluctant to think that he could have just been an occasional thing for Tony when he was in New York, but maybe that was all it was between them.

But Steve was still haunted by the brief look of hurt on Tony’s face. He could not have imagined that he could have hurt Tony. Steve groaned as he replayed the conversation in his mind and remembered Tony walking in on his conversation with Sharon at the wrong time. And he never got the chance to fix things with him. He did not want Tony to think that Steve did not want to date him or be his boyfriend. 

The turmoil over Tony and Steve’s intense curiosity about whatever was going at Hammer was taking its toll on his art. Something had to give and Steve was determined that it was not going to be art. He gritted his teeth and tried to sketch again.

 

At work, Steve took over the empty cubicle that his research group was using for their coffee machine and (probably illegal) refrigerator. To anyone passing by, it appeared that Steve was sorting out paperwork for filing. But Steve needed work space to figure out the paper trail of his various orders. He had discovered a flaw in the online ordering systems. When Purchasing implemented the system, they had failed to set up the system with different levels of access. Steve found he could track orders throughout the order system even on his temp passwords. He took screenshots of what he found and today he wanted to go through the print invoices that came with orders and shipping lists.

An admin for one of the engineering research groups explained to Steve that her group was responsible for reverse engineering Stark tech, just as Bruce thought. She ordered parts that were on the market and available through three official Stark tech resellers. She showed Steve that Stark tech and parts came in specially designed and labeled boxes with printed invoices on watermarked paper. The parts were bagged, labeled with QR codes, and tagged with the purchase order and invoice number. The official invoices came with a warning that any tech or parts with missing or mismatched labels or not accompanied with the proper paperwork were more than likely stolen or counterfeit parts. 

Now that he knew what he was looking for, Steve was very certain that the Stark parts he had stumbled across had not come from Stark Industries vendors. He could not judge if the parts were counterfeit. He checked the night-vision goggle parts against the Stark reseller catalogs and those parts were definitely not retail market parts. So Steve was organizing his paperwork in order to figure out how the parts had ended up at Hammer. Since the initial two boxes, Steve had uncovered five additional problem orders that included Stark tech parts. Steve noticed immediately that the paper trail did not match the electronic order trail at all. There had something in the paperwork for the five orders that indicated who or what was responsible for the substitution of Stark parts for the originally ordered parts.

Derrick came into the cubicle to get coffee and walked over to where Steve was starting to organize the paperwork into piles. “So, um, Steve, did you hear from your agency yet?”

Steve instinctively knew he could not let Derrick see what he was doing so he maneuvered to block Derrick from seeing the paperwork and how it was organized. “Yes, they called this morning with the offer of extending the contract a couple of more weeks and I accepted.” 

“Good. Good,” Derrick replied. “So what you are doing?”

“Oh, this? I’m just doing some filing. Also, Purchasing asked me to locate records due for shredding. I’m putting together a shredding shipment.”

Derrick was obviously pleased by this. “Well, keep up the good work, Steve,” he said as he left.

Turning back to his piles, Steve snorted as he remembered overhearing a group of researchers beg Derrick to keep Steve on as long as possible. Steve knew from that mysterious conversation over three weeks ago that Derrick wanted him gone. Steve had debated long and hard with himself about staying the additional two weeks. But now that the Malibu trip was postponed or, more likely, would never happen, Steve could use the money, no matter how much he disliked Hammer Industries.

He had been mostly truthful with Derrick. Purchasing _had_ asked for older and completed paperwork to be shredded. He had a box of paperwork to send to Purchasing for shredding, although he wondered why Purchasing handled shredding. He would have thought that auditors or the records manager would be in charge of shredding. But things kept pointing back to Purchasing. Steve realized he should look for the Purchasing connection. Carefully reviewing the paperwork for the problem orders, he saw the same initials again and again. Initials from someone in Purchasing. 

Someone in Purchasing was responsible for deliberately mixing up the orders for some specific reason.

 

Friday night Sam and Steve were at home watching mixed-martial arts matches on television. Feeling very grim about what was going on at work, Steve scowled as he nursed his beer. “Sam, if you saw something at work that you thought should be reported –“

Turning from the TV, Sam scoffed, “Come on, Steve, I’m a mandatory reporter, and, in fact, the person that mandatory reporters call to investigate abuse cases. I don’t think I can give impartial advice.”

“I’m going to talk with Peggy on Sunday about what I found at work. I think whatever is going on stinks to high heaven.”

“You always do the right thing, Steve. I’m surprised you’re even thinking about it.”

Steve was only hesitating because he was not sure if what he was seeing was even a crime. It could just be incompetence. Maybe there were unofficial Stark part sellers, but those sellers would be grey market sellers at best. None of this was at all good. And Steve needed to tell Jane and Bruce before he did anything because he did not want them to be collateral damage if crimes were actually being committed at Hammer Industries.

Then Sam asked, “So, what’s up with Mr. California?”

Steve fell silent for a long time. “I haven’t heard from him in a week.” 

Sam patted Steve’s shoulder. “Sorry about that, man. He seemed to make you happy.”

Tony had made him happy. Very happy. But maybe it was all water under the bridge now. He shrugged. “Guess that’s the way it goes sometimes.” He glanced back at the TV. “Hey, did you see that, Sam? That guy just got kicked in the face.” The MMA match was heating up.

Steve ended up drinking far more than usual that night, watching television with Sam and feeling down about nearly everything. He realized he was more than likely drunk when he had a hard time focusing enough to brush his teeth. He decided sleeping in his clothes was an excellent idea.

His bedroom spun around him as he limply settled down on his bed. Then he thought he heard his phone buzzing through the fog. He struggled to pick it up from the nightstand and saw a text. From Tony. _Did you mean it?_

Mean what? Steve did not know. He knew he should reply in the morning when he was more together. But he could not explain in a text. He should call. He kept repeating that he would call in the morning even as he dialed Tony’s number. In the end, he got Tony’s voicemail.

After hearing Tony’s jaunty voice directing how to leave a message, Steve froze. He hung up. He knew better. It would be best to call tomorrow, not drunk-dial a guy that Steve was desperate to talk to. God, he wanted to talk to Tony, tell him everything, and beg to be taken back. He dialed again. He got voicemail again and promptly hung up.

Steve went into the bathroom to wash his face. He was a mess. He brought his phone along as if it was glued to his hand. Again he read the text: _Did you mean it?_ He leaned against the sink, drawing strength from the cool porcelain. He could not be that desperate.

Before he could even think about it and lacking any inhibitions, he called again. When Tony’s cheerful, slightly sarcastic voice faded, Steve launched into a rambling incoherent conversation. “Uh, Tony, it’s Steve. You remember me? I’m the guy from New York. I mean, one of many guys from New York – I’m the tall blond. Artist. We met in Las Vegas, sort of. And we had dates and stuff. You fixed my Xbox and we ate pizza and went to a movie. Anyway, I got your text. And I don’t know what you mean. But if it’s about that thing you heard at the auction with my agent, I don’t know what exactly you heard. That woman I was talking to is my agent and she wanted me to do something I really don’t agree with. What you probably heard was my turning her down. Actually, she wanted me to tell people that you and I were – are? – dating and I just don’t do that. I mean, whatever’s going on between us stays just between us, no one needs to know, right? My friends know something is up but they are my friends and they’re great people and don’t expect me to prostitute myself and –” The voicemail beeped and cut Steve off. It should have been a sign to call it a night.

But Steve called _again_. “Tony? It’s me, Steve. Again. The artist? I just want you to know that I’ve been thinking of you and I really like you a lot and I’d like to like you even more. You know what I mean. I miss you and don’t care whatever the hell is going with you and that actress or anyone else. Please, please call me.” He hung up. 

When Steve woke very late the next morning, he had a nasty, well-earned headache. He found his phone in the bathroom, where he had left it so he would stop calling just to hear Tony’s voice. While he was shaving, carefully, because his hand was still slightly unsteady, he replayed the phone messages in his mind. The horror of what he said dawned on Steve. He never did that – he never drunkenly called anyone. And what he said appalled him. He did not talk like that to anyone, not even Bucky whom he had known since he was a little kid. He prayed that Tony had not checked his voicemail. His odds were good since he had learned early that it was hit or miss with Tony and voicemail.

But Steve was doomed to a life of everlasting embarrassment when he saw a number of texts from Tony. _Are you okay there, buddy? Wow. Let’s talk. Call today. Been busy. Pepper has me on lockdown, confiscated my phone._ And also: _Like to like you even more? Did you just proposition me, Steve? Because I am totally down with that._ Not even an extended gym workout could clear Steve’s worried mind. He was looking forward to and at the same time dreading hearing from Tony. 

Tony did call that afternoon. “Hey, Steve!” he said brightly. 

“Hi, Tony,” Steve replied warily. It was a promising start.

“Boy, it sounds like you had an exciting night. Not the way I was expecting to hear from you.”

“I, uh, don’t get drunk at all, really. I really shouldn’t have –“

“Don’t apologize. Your call was spectacular. But not even close to the top twenty drunk calls I’ve ever gotten. My best bud Rhodey leaves the best ones,” Tony chuckled warmly.

“Well, I guess I sort of answered your text?” Steve asked hopefully.

“Enough to get the picture,” Tony started. But then Steve heard some muffled voices over the phone and Tony replying to them. “Steve, I got to go now. My lawyers need to talk to me.”

It could not be good if Tony was meeting with lawyers on a Saturday. “Oh, okay,” Steve replied, trying to think of what to say.

“Yeah, we need to talk. But look, people are saying a lot of weird stuff about me in the press right now. And lot of it’s just dead wrong. I wish I had time to tell you the whole story but, please, just trust me?”

Steve was intrigued and willing to try. “Yes, Tony, I do.”

Tony sounded relieved and happy. “Great! I’ll call as soon as I can, Steve. It might be more than a few days. I’m on a tight leash for now until some things blow over. Okay, sweetheart?”

Steve had no idea why he went a little weak in the knees. “Yeah, Tony. Talk to you soon.”

Later Steve got a final text from Tony: _Why would you think I’d forget you? I think about you all the time._ It was followed a short time later with: _Especially a naked you._

 

Steve skyped with Peggy as they had planned. Peggy got right down to business. “Steve, why do you want to know about export control laws? And did you read anything I sent you?”

“I read through most of the articles. Um, it’s about work.” He told her about what he had found and his suspicions. 

Peggy listened very carefully, a thoughtful look on her face. “You know that Stark Industries provides a lot of technology for the government, especially military-based tech. That relationship goes back to Howard Stark.”

“And?” 

“That’s the basis for the export control laws – to prevent things like Stark tech falling in the wrong hands.”

“I’m starting to think maybe this is all a setup to circumvent Customs. Maybe whoever is behind this is using different addresses to hide where the parts are really going?”

“Ohhh, Steve, that could be it. You are going to report this, right?”

“I might need to find more information. Who would I contact?”

Peggy paused a moment. “Probably Customs, maybe the FBI. I’ll get a name for you.”

Two days later, Peggy texted contact information for FBI Agent Clint Barton and urged Steve to contact him as soon as possible.


	9. Complications And Connections

On Monday, Steve brought his boxes to be shredded to Purchasing. He checked with one of the admins for the department, who directed him to leave the boxes at her cubicle. As he stacked the boxes, he noticed she was reading Page 8 from The Bugle. “Anything interesting?” he asked.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” she said. “Celebrity rumors, divorces, getting caught in workout clothes without any makeup on. Oh, wait, here’s a funny story.” She pointed to a small item about Meaghan Up-And-Coming-Actress who was now saying that she was very excited to be expecting with her new boyfriend. The admin shrugged. “Girl's gotta get it right sometime. Last week it was Tony Stark. Maybe next week it will be somebody else.” She sat up straighter when her supervisor came out.

The man looked carefully at Steve, who quickly volunteered the information that he was dropping off boxes. “Okay -- Steve? -- just leave the boxes there and we’ll take care of them.”

Steve nodded and turned to go back to his floor. While he was in the elevator, he remembered where he had heard the man’s voice before. It was the same man who talked to Derrick a few weeks back about his concern that Steve would find something out. So now it seemed to Steve that whatever was going on with the Stark parts might involve a connection between Derrick and the Purchasing supervisor.

 

Tony called to say he would be in New York on Wednesday and asked Steve if he was free for dinner. Steve was looking forward to Tony's visit, although he had no idea how the evening would go. The best he hoped for was a chance to clear the air with Tony and possibly make a fresh start. He did not want to consider the possibility the evening could still end badly.

Tony arrived at seven, as promised, this time driving an uncharacteristically muted, dark-colored Honda, a far cry from his usual high-end luxury sports cars. Steve watched from the window, a touch nervous and excited, as Tony parallel parked on the street. 

Steve glanced in the hall mirror and quickly checked his clothes and hair before Tony knocked on the door. When Steve answered the door, he immediately noticed the strain and fatigue in Tony's face, and the effort behind his patented brilliant smile. “Hey, Tony,” he said softly.

“Oh hey, Steve, it's good to see you.” Tony reached out and patted Steve’s arm as he moved into the apartment. Steve turned to watch him, wondering if he should offer some support or maybe just wrap the other man in a hug.

“Are things okay?” asked Steve.

Tony waved his hand, but his eyes skittered around the room and did not meet Steve's directly. “Ah, just been busy. Long plane ride." Tony put his hands in his pockets and looked up at Steve, his mouth screwed up in a near grin. "So, how about we go to that restaurant we first went to?” 

Steve was worried about Tony. He had dark circles and bags under his eyes and tight lines at the corners, as if he had not been eating or sleeping well. Something was not right. “You know, we could just order in and see what’s on TV. Nothing fancy.”

Tony raised his gaze from where he was studying the carpet. “Staying in for takeout sounds perfect. Though we do need to get some better beer this time. No offense.”

Steve smiled and handed over a handful of takeout menus to Tony, who quickly read through them while Steve went to the kitchen to see what he had for food. Steve could throw together something for dinner in case Tony did not find anything appealing in the takeout selection. 

“You know, the Thai place around the corner is pretty good,” Steve offered as he poked through the fridge.

Ignoring the paper menus, Tony was now flipping through his phone. “Yeah, okay, that works. The menu looks good. Mind if I place the order?”

“Go ahead. I’ll go pick it up. Let me know what you want for beer.”

By the time Steve returned to the apartment with the beer and food, Tony was stretched out asleep on the couch. Steve thought back to his first encounter in Las Vegas when he saw Tony curled up in the cabana. Even tired and worn, Tony was very attractive, with his dark, tousled hair, full and inviting lips, and warm olive skin. Steve felt the sudden urge to hold and kiss him until everything was better. But right now, the takeout was hot and Tony needed to eat. Gently Steve nudged Tony awake. Tony smiled up at him, his eyes glazed by sleep. “Hello there, gorgeous.”

“Hey there, yourself. Ok, come and get it.” Steve left his hand on Tony's shoulder as he rose to steady him.

Tony stood up and stretched widely. His shirt was partially unbuttoned and untucked from his impromptu nap. Steve handed over a beer, averting his eyes from the tempting display of olive-toned torso. Before Steve joined Tony at the kitchen table, Steve rubbed Tony’s shoulders a little. “I’ve missed you.”

Leaning into Steve’s strong hands, Tony sighed and looked up, giving him a slightly weary smile. “Me too. It’s been a while. So, tell me, your agent? The one at the auction, you said she wanted you to tell people we were special friends.”

Steve blushed lightly as he sat down.“Sharon. Well, yes, she did. But I don’t kiss and tell. So that’s what you heard me telling my agent.”

Tony took Steve’s hand in his. “Strangely enough, that's the sweetest thing anybody’s done for me lately.” Tony started to play with Steve’s fingers, a rueful expression on his face. “I did have to cancel our plans that night at the auction because I was already double booked – I was supposed to meet up with some friends. And there were complications with Pepper’s plans. And then the whole damn thing fell apart …. And now I’m explaining it, it still doesn't make sense.” Tony raised soft, dark eyes to Steve and admitted, “I could have made it work.”

Steve took a sip from his beer. “And then there was Meaghan.”

Tony screwed his face up in a look of horror. “Oh, my god. Yeah, that was not good.”

Steve looked down where Tony still held his hand. “But ... I mean, it looks like that’s -- that's resolved now.”

Tony swallowed a deep draught of his beer and then huffed. “Well, yeah, at least that’s all cleared up.” He poked through the boxes to find the shrimp Pad Thai. “So, I told you I dated Meaghan last year, on and off for months – what can I say, we looked good together on the red carpet, right? And I made it clear that there wasn’t a future for us. But somehow she got it into her head that telling the world I’m the father of her baby meant I’d marry her or something." Tony loaded some Pad Thai onto his plate and chewed a forkful. "And she needed the PR. All things considered, Steve, I do feel sort of bad for her. But I am most definitely not the father – for one thing, we were over and done by then. The timing is impossible. So, my lawyers had a discussion with her. And, what do you know, the story went away."

Steve looked puzzled. “But the auction? And the pictures of you at the nightclub?”

Tony waved his fork at Steve.“Easy. Meaghan called the paparazzi and told them where to find us. That’s how she was keeping the story in the news – feeding stories to the press and setting up photo shoots.”

“People call the paparazzi?” The idea seemed completely foreign to Steve.

Tony laughed at his confusion, and quickly drank some beer to clear his throat. “Yes, yes, they do. All the time. It’s the way to stay in the public eye -- give the press what they want to see and they just eat it up.” He ate some more takeout from another box and looked up at Steve with a mischievous smirk. “So, say that I happen to be going around town with a shy, gorgeous young artist, I see him one night, and then the other night I go out and act crazy in the public eye in front of the press. And no one bothers me about my stunning artist friend because they’re seeing exactly what they expect to see -- the billionaire playboy.”

Steve set his fork down on the table. “I find that all very strange.”

Tony sighed. “It’s the way the world works, Steve. If you don't want anyone in your business, don’t make it other people’s business and you’ll be left alone. But there are a lot of celebrities out there who would languish and die without the attention.”

“But not you?” Steve smiled softly at Tony.

He gave Steve a wink and said, “Now, it's true that I love attention, but I also know how to work with the press. Steve, you know, I find it fascinating that you aren’t interested in my celebrity.”

“I have to be honest, Tony, I’m trying to figure it all out.”

Tony drew a deep breath and carefully wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So, is that why you seem a bit, I don't know, reserved, about whatever is going on between us?” He gestured between the two of them.

Steve paused to consider his words. “I guess I usually prefer to take things as they come, to wait and see. I thought things were going pretty well with us?”

“Yeah, well, I was starting to wonder if you were all that interested in me, you know? And hearing what you said –”

“If I wasn’t interested, I’d let you know.” Steve leaned over and kissed Tony. “Hope that doesn’t leave you with any doubts.”

“Ask me in the morning when I can give you a complete review.”

Steve laughed. “Hmmm, so we’re good?”

“We’re good,” Tony replied with a glint in his eye.

“Why don’t you go find something on TV while I clean up?” Steve suggested. Tony wandered back to the living room while Steve packed away the leftovers. As he loaded the dishwasher, he wondered if Tony was maybe happier now than when he arrived. Steve did not want to poke at him too much. He could sense that it was all still fragile between them and any pressure could break them apart like tissue paper.

Grabbing another beer for Tony, Steve returned to the living room where Tony was flipping through channels apparently aimlessly. Steve sat down on the couch and put his arm around Tony who snuggled into Steve’s side. Steve gently rubbed Tony’s shoulder and hugged him. They bantered for a while about what to watch, finally settling on an old sci-fi show marathon. Eventually, they both fell silent. Steve wondered if Tony was asleep but Tony yawned and stretched. “What’s next?” Tony asked as the credits rolled. A few ideas came to Steve’s mind ...

“You weren’t crazy about the baseball game earlier so I won’t suggest watching people talk about the game,” Steve replied. He looked down at Tony fondly.

Tony chuckled. “You know me so well.” 

Steve kissed the top of his head. “So do you need anything?”

“No, not really.” Tony smiled up at Steve. “I’m just fine here.”

Steve kissed him deeply. He was very happy to see a relaxed, pleased Tony after all the underlying tension of the evening. Turning off the television, Steve thought it was wonderful being here in the living room with the windows open and a breeze blowing and Tony curled up against him. Starting to feel aroused at having Tony so close, he began to consider ideas about how to help Tony unwind even more. “Hey, where are you going?” Tony asked lazily, a hint of disappointment in his voice as Steve got up from the couch.

Steve only grinned in reply. After a quick trip to the bedroom to retrieve the lube, he came back to the couch. He kissed Tony again, pushing against his lips to urge him to open up. He finished unbuttoning Tony’s shirt, kissing him along his chin, under his jaw, his neck. He encouraged Tony to touch him anywhere, to splay his hands on Steve’s abs and to slip his fingers under the waistband of Steve’s pants. Steve moved down Tony’s chest, kissing as he went. He sucked and nipped at one of Tony’s nipples and then the other one. He loved the noises he teased out of Tony. His hands went to unbuckle Tony’s belt and unzip his fly. “Steve,” Tony gasped.

Steve grinned and leered up at him, which made Tony laugh. “Oh, gorgeous, you’re so gorgeous, so sexy doing what you’re doing, you don’t have to try at all,” Tony said huskily and a little incoherently. Steve nuzzled at Tony’s crotch and then pulled out Tony’s cock. He stroked it, teasing, while he worked him to full hardness. Tony moaned above him as Steve opened his mouth and swirled his tongue around the head. He began to lick and suck up and down, taking his time to wind Tony up. Steve paused to tug Tony’s underwear and pants over the swell of his ass and down his legs, sliding his hand back up to caress and knead. Supporting his weight on one elbow, Steve reached into his pocket to grab the lube. He maneuvered Tony’s legs further apart, still constricted by the half-shed clothing and tight confines of the couch. Popping the cap open, he slicked up his fingers and tossed the tube aside. 

Tony watched, fascinated, as Steve went back to work. Taking Tony completely in his mouth, Steve palmed his balls and lightly pressed on the perineum, reaching back to circle around and around Tony’s hole, dipping one fingertip in, gently, before pressing in to the first knuckle and further until Tony was loose enough to take a second and then a third finger. Gasping, Tony rolled his hips up, and moved his hands over Steve’s back and shoulder to fist in Steve’s hair. “Please, Steve, please,” he croaked. Steve carried on licking, sucking and slowly fingering Tony open. Tony finally pushed at Steve’s shoulders and groaned, “Oh god, Steve, please, I need more.”

Pulling off with a pop, Steve crooked his fingers, sending Tony into a spasm. “What do you mean, more?” he asked, his voice throaty and hoarse.

“You are a horrible, horrible person, Steve,” Tony gasped out. “Now, take me to your goddamn bedroom and show me what you’ve got.”

“Alright,” Steve agreed. He slid his fingers out, with a quick wipe on his shirt, and stood, pulling Tony up with him. They kissed as Tony toed off his shoes and stepped out of his jeans. The short walk passed in a blur as Steve hustled Tony to his bedroom, but not before grabbing the discarded lube. As soon as they were in Steve’s room, Tony quickly shrugged out of the rest of his clothes and drew down the coverlet before lying down on the bed. Steve paused while removing his t-shirt to look over at Tony as he stretched out on the bed, one hand behind his head, the other idly stroking his cock. Everything Steve could ever want was there on his bed wrapped up in a package with dark sparkling eyes, wild brown hair, taut muscles under warm skin and a leering smile. Steve could not resist, did not want to resist. He got a condom out of the nightstand drawer and dropped it and the tube of lube on the bed. 

“Okay now, you’ve got me right where you wanted me,” Tony said in a thick, raspy voice, with an exaggerated come-hither look. “Are you planning to deliver, big boy? Or are you just going to stand there and admire the view?”

Tossing his t-shirt at Tony, who was now laughing, Steve quickly shucked his jeans and underwear. He fell forward to push Tony into the bed, kissing him wet and messily. He ground his hips against Tony’s as he nipped and sucked along Tony’s neck and shoulder. Tony arched up to kiss Steve, holding on desperately, as if Steve would disappear if Tony did not have lips, tongue and hands all over his body. With a few economical movements, Steve maneuvered Tony onto his back, spreading Tony’s thighs wide with his hands. Canting forward to kiss along Tony’s tanned torso, Steve slid a hand down to finger Tony open again. He carefully pushed in one, two and then three fingers, stretching and scissoring. Steve then stopped, quickly rolled on the condom and slicked himself up. Tony tugged Steve down into a kiss and wrapped his legs around him, rutted up against him eagerly as Steve pressed closer and guided himself as he pushed inside. 

Steve looked at Tony, dark eyes blown wide, his mouth open in a silent gasp. Tony soon gave a small nod, and Steve sank in deeper until he bottomed out inside him. He stroked one hand across Tony’s heaving flank, both of them breathing heavily and beginning to sweat. Tony whispered encouragement and tightened his hold on Steve as Steve began to move with shallow thrusts. Soon Tony was clutching at him, begging him to move faster, deeper, as he rolled his hips up to meet Steve. Steve panted, his sweat mingling with Tony’s, the friction getting more and more heated with every thrust and slide. He shifted to get a better angle and Tony cried out as Steve grazed his prostate. Bottoming out, Steve stroked over that spot again and again while Tony came apart under him. He strained to get closer, deeper, his grip bruising on Tony’s hips, before moving to hook his elbows under Tony’s knees for added leverage. Tony tossed his head wildly, hands fisted in the bedsheets as Steve pounded into him. Not long after, Tony’s head flew back, his spine bowed and muscles locked, and he shouted his release. 

Steve slowed, rolling his hips in tiny circles and easing Tony’s legs down, while Tony trembled under and around him. Soon, desperate for his own release, Steve rutted against him, thrusting deeply a few more times more before he came, his head lowered to Tony’s shoulder and white fire sparking through his nerves to the tips of his fingers. He pressed a slow, open-mouthed kiss to the side of Tony’s neck as he labored to catch his breath. At last Steve carefully slipped out of Tony to lay on his back. A few moments later, Tony gathered his strength to lean over and neatly dispose of the condom and swipe down their bodies with the corner of the sheet. He collapsed next to Steve and gave him a quick buss on the cheek. 

Tony exhaled, long and soft. “Ohhhh, my god, Steve, did you deliver. Sweet Jesus. I needed that, more than you know,” he whispered. Too exhausted to respond, Steve turned his head to smile at Tony before slowly slipping into sleep. He did not even feel the covers being drawn up over the two of them and Tony nestling closer against his side.

Sometime later, Tony nudged him. “Hey, Steve, I know it’s early, and I hate to wake you after last night … Thanks, by the way, for everything. It meant a lot.”

Steve did not remember falling asleep. The room was still dark and it felt early, real early. Barely awake, he cracked an eye open. “Tony?” 

Tony, dressed and somewhat pulled together, leaned over to give him a soft kiss. “I have to go, Steve, but I didn’t want you to think I was slinking off in the middle of the night. I’m not sure when I can call you. But, I want you to know that I can’t wait to see you again.” Then he was gone.

 

Steve felt a little empty when he woke up in the morning. Despite feeling worn, he pushed himself to go for his morning run to clear his head. When he returned to the apartment, he found Sam watching sports news highlights. Steve grabbed a bowl of cereal and joined Sam in the living room.

Looking rather like the cat who nabbed the canary, Sam said, “I met your boy this morning as he was leaving. I got in late and couldn’t sleep and ….”

Steve sat up straight. “You did?”

“Yep. Even made him have breakfast before he left. Told him that you’d be angry with me if I let him go without eating. So we ate cereal and toast. He was on his own for coffee.”

“Um, okay. So, what did you think?” Steve asked hesitantly. He hoped that Sam liked Tony.

Sam cocked his head. “For someone up at that hour, he was very charming and smooth. He’s a piece of work, Tony. Tony Stark, that is.”

Steve slumped down in his chair. “I guess you know everything now.”

“That my roommate is secretly dating a celebrity billionaire?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“What, were you waiting until you showed up on TMZ before telling us?” Sam asked, a slight edge to his voice.

“No, it’s just that – it’s just – I couldn’t figure out if he was serious, and I was being cautious, and I didn’t know what you guys would think if I told you.”

“Yeah, okay, I can see that. How in the heck did you two meet?”

Steve told Sam everything from meeting Tony in Las Vegas to their recent series of misunderstandings. “I’m really hoping it works out, Sam,” Steve admitted, “but I don’t know.”

Sam nudged him. “You light up when you talk about him, Steve. This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

Steve remembered how happy he felt last night when it looked like things were back on track with Tony. “Yes. It does.”

“So? Does he know?” Sam asked.

“I – I – I don’t know.”

“Tell Tony soon, Steve, it might mean a lot to him.”

“Why? Did you talk about me over cereal?”

Sam chuckled. “Nope. Strangely enough, we talked about cars. It was … a bit awkward,” he said with a huff. “The other stuff I just guessed about because I know you, Steve. And sometimes you act like feelings are optional in life.” 

Steve reflected a moment on his friend’s well-intentioned advice. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“Good. While you think about it, I’ll take my time figuring out how to torture Peggy over it. She’s been begging for news.” Sam smirked. “Bucky will be fine with it. But he’ll ask what the sex is like.”

“Sam!” Steve groaned and threw a pillow at Sam’s head.

 

Thursday crawled by while Steve waited anxiously to hear from either Tony or FBI agent Clint Barton. Jane and Bruce supported Steve when he explained to them what he had found out about the problem orders, the Stark tech, and whom he thought was behind it all. They warned Steve they would all likely lose their jobs, but they were willing to take the risk with him. They did not like this situation at all. Steve felt slightly guilty, knowing he had the least to lose because he was only a temp. Luckily, Jane had a backup plan already, since she had figured her job was not going to last much longer. And Bruce was always looking for work, so he was prepared for the fallout. Before leaving work, Steve made sure to take his USB drive with all his scans and screenshots with him. He might find more information on Friday, but he did not want to risk leaving all the evidence at work.

He still had not heard from Tony. He half-remembered what Tony whispered in his ear as he left, so he was not terribly surprised. He did worry about Tony, and thought about him a lot, and wondered what could have happened to dull the sparkle in his eyes and take the bounce out of his step. 

Steve found out while eating breakfast on Friday morning. The news and weather were on in the background while Steve waited for the sports scores and highlights. He perked up quickly when he heard Tony’s name. Turning to the TV, he saw footage of Tony standing in front of a courthouse, which looked like the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. As Steve listened, the anchor reported that CEO Tony Stark was being questioned by the FBI about the extensive sale of classified military technology to known terrorist organizations. The anchor mentioned speculation that arrests of Stark Industries’ employees, possibly including even Tony Stark himself, could follow over the next few days.

Steve’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He had wondered why Tony was so upset on Wednesday and realized now that Tony must have been worried about being questioned by the FBI. Steve mulled over the possibility that this could have something to do with what he had discovered at Hammer Industries.

Then Steve got a call from Clint Barton who suggested that they meet Saturday morning. The FBI was very keen on seeing what Steve had.


	10. Consequences

If Steve had not heard the news about Tony before leaving his apartment, he would have definitely found out at work. Especially since Justin Hammer sent out an announcement to the whole company concerning Tony’s problems with the FBI. The unrestrained gloating added a special touch, Steve noted with disgust. It was already 10 in the morning and Steve knew that the day would last forever.

Steve decided to lay low during the day and hunker down in his cubicle. He had made arrangements to meet with Clint and his partner on Saturday morning at Steve’s favorite coffee shop near his apartment. Concerned that his plans would be discovered, Steve avoided anything to do with orders and Purchasing. He made a large project out of reorganizing his cubicle space, cleaning out the coffee machine cubicle down to scrubbing out the coffee maker, and even finished up filing in the file room.

Somehow, today of all days, Derrick was everywhere. He actually talked to Steve about the last Mets game and their playoff chances. He asked Steve about the projects he was currently working on and gave him additional assignments for the next week. Steve went to check in with Jane about lunch and Derrick was talking to a cluster of a researchers. Derrick stopped by the coffee cubicle more often than usual. In his paranoia, Steve was concerned that Derrick had found out what Steve knew. But as the day wore on, Steve realized that Derrick was just jumpy and nervous.

Hours later, Steve was the only one beside Derrick left in the office, since it was a Friday afternoon in August. Jane swung by Steve’s cubicle on her way out and wished him luck. “Call me,” she said, poking him. “I’ll be on pins and needles until you tell me how it turns out.”

When Steve saw Derrick’s friend the Purchasing supervisor, whose name turned out to be Jake, stop by Derrick’s office, he made a show of listening to music while working on the computer. As soon as Jake started talking to Derrick, Steve turned off his music and tried to hear the conversation. He was surprised that Derrick and Jake did not seem to care or notice that Steve could possibly overhear them, even if they assumed he was engrossed in his work.

At first Derrick and Jake talked about their weekend plans. Then the conversation slowly shifted over to Tony and his problems. Derrick was happy about the news. “We’ve gotten rid of most of the evidence and they’ll never find out about what we’ve been doing. And they’re going to nail Stark for it.”

Jake, who seemed to be the more cautious one, warned, “Until the FBI arrests and hauls Stark and his people into court and stops their investigations, we’re not safe.”

“Seriously, Jake, you worry too much. We’ve covered our tracks, and no one is looking at Hammer Industries at all. But if you’re that concerned, we can slow down for a couple of weeks.”

“Right, we should do that. Once the news goes away, we can ramp it up again,” Jake said with some obvious relief.

“Have a great weekend, Jake. We’ll talk more on Sunday about this.”

By the time Jake came out of Derrick’s office, Steve’s music was on again and Steve pretended to be on the phone. Jake never even looked at Steve as he walked back to the elevators.

 

Steve parked himself early at the coffee shop and set up his laptop at a table with a good view of the front door. He had no idea what Clint Barton looked like or what to expect from the interview. He looked up expectantly at every new person who came through the door but no sign of recognition. As he waited, he checked his phone, hoping to hear from Tony. He had called a couple of times to let him know Steve was thinking of him, even though he knew that Tony had warned him that he would be out of touch.

A dark blond man slightly older that Steve and in a generic looking black suit came in accompanied by a red-haired woman, also in a suit but better fitted. They immediately noticed Steve in his corner. Steve rose to meet them and shook their hands as they introduced themselves. “Steve Rogers? I’m Clint Barton, FBI, and this my partner, Natasha Romanoff.”

“Good to meet you,” Steve replied.

“So you have something for us?” Natasha asked. 

Steve explained his job at Hammer Industries and what he had found. He started with the problem orders and showed how he had traced the Stark Industries parts through the order system through the purchase order numbers and invoices. “I found that these orders are just a cover for something else,” Steve said as he pulled up the scans and screenshots from his investigations.

He showed them a picture of the memory modules. “When I found these memory modules, I thought that they were for the research group tasked with reverse-engineering Stark Industries tech. But then I found out that group ordered their Stark parts through authorized vendors. When I asked Purchasing, they told me they had messed up and ordered Stark parts instead of Hammer Industries supplied parts. They told me to keep them.” He paused to drink some coffee. 

Then Steve pointed at the screenshots related to the night vision goggles. “Somehow, I ended up with a box of these parts. I found out that these parts are not available at all through vendors and weren’t in the public Stark catalogs.” He showed the photographs he took of the box, its contents, the mailing labels and the invoices. 

Both Clint and Natasha, who were listening intently, leaned in closer to look at Steve’s evidence. “That label actually says Uzbekistan,” Clint pointed out.

“Yeah,” Steve acknowledged. “This is the real scam going on. The misordered Stark parts are a cover for these parts. There’s probably someone on the Stark Industries side sending the parts to someone in Hammer under the cover of legitimate orders, and that’s how the parts get shipped out to another middleman to ship to illegal customers. Because we either never get the orders since they get stuck in the mail room until Purchasing clears out the never delivered packages, or the admins return misplaced orders like these goggle parts because that’s what we’re trained to do. And whoever is responsible can process the illegal parts without anyone knowing since they are usually the only person who knows what’s in the boxes they get from the mailroom.” He pointed out the initials on the invoices and explained his theory that they were some sort of code for the problem orders.

“That actually makes sense. But it’s stupidly complicated with too many steps,” Natasha observed.

“It’s parts laundering,” Clint said. “But why the paper trail?”

Steve shrugged. “There are a lot of complicated and kind of pointless processes at Hammer. Actually, when I asked around about misplaced orders, I heard the same story about incompetent people in Purchasing. So that’s why no one really looks into it or cares – it’s just what you expect at Hammer Industries. And Purchasing can cover their tracks since they handle the order returns and processing.”

Clint and Natasha had more questions for Steve. He told them about the conversations he heard between his supervisor and the Purchasing supervisor. He also suggested that people in high places must know about this because they fired or reassigned admins who noticed the pattern of problem orders.

Clint downloaded copies of Steve’s evidence to his USB drive. “We’ll have more questions for you in the future.”

“Okay,” Steve replied. “I’m not planning on going back to Hammer Industries …”

“Don’t do that,” Natasha interjected. “We don’t want to bring any attention to what you found. How much longer do you have there?”

“About three weeks. I wanted to leave sooner but I didn’t want to be on the outs with my temp agency.”

The FBI agents stood up and gave Steve their cards. “We’ll be in touch shortly. This is all very interesting what you told us,” Clint said. 

Steve almost asked if this had anything to do with the investigation into Tony’s business, but he did not know if Clint or Natasha would know. Or would even tell him if they did. “Thank you,” Steve said.

Clint nodded and Natasha replied, “No, thank you,” as they left.

 

Steve reported to work as usual on Monday but he was jumpy and tense all day. One of the researchers asked, “Bad weekend, Steve, or a just a fantastic one?”

“Ah, you know. Mondays,” Steve replied vaguely. 

He had never wanted to leave a temp job more than he did now. He knew temps that made an effort to make the job their own so that they would be seen as indispensable. But he had never been that way. He enjoyed the work as long as it lasted and was glad to leave on good terms. And he did not bring anything to the workplace he could not leave behind if the job ended suddenly. He looked over at the plain white coffee mug which was the only office accessory he allowed himself.

Jane and Bruce were encouraging over lunch. While Jane admitted her understanding of the FBI was derived purely from films and movies, Bruce had been involved in an FBI investigation before. He did not want to go into details, but he warned Steve, “They’ll move on their own schedule and won’t tell you their plan of action. You could end up as the main source of information or just part of a bigger investigation.”

“I’m really not good at lying or subterfuge,” Steve admitted. “Every time Derrick asks me something, I almost blurt everything out and accuse him of committing crimes.”

Jane’s eyes went wide. “You think Derrick is part of this?”

“He knows what’s going on,” Steve said firmly. “It’s his friend Jake that’s up to his neck in it.”

Bruce smirked. “No one would be surprised at that.”

Jane patted Steve’s shoulder. “Hang in there, soldier. At least you’ve got only a couple of weeks here.”

All his friends told Steve to put the investigation out of his mind since he had no news or information. Maybe he could have, under other circumstances, but he had constant reminders. On Tuesday, Justin Hammer sent out another “update” about the investigation into Stark Industries, complete with embarrassing photographs of Tony and a large amount of editorializing about the quality of Stark Industries products. Steve was quick to delete but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.

By Wednesday morning, Steve was still wrung out from waiting for the hammer to drop. He had heard nothing from Clint, Tony or anyone. He reminded himself that he was a patient man and that he needed to wait for events to unfold. He did his best to avoid the news, and went for daily runs and workouts at the gym. As long as Hammer Industries was paying him, he knew he had to do the best job he could. As he left for lunch, he took grim pride in the fact that the coffee cubicle had never looked so clean and the file room so organized.

Jane could not join him for lunch since she was in the middle of a project. So Steve was on his own and he decided to go to a little park not far from the building for fresh summer air and a little sketching. He was surprised to get a call from Jane. “You have to come back here,” she said in a whisper.

“What’s going on?”

“The FBI arrived with warrants and hand trucks about 20 minutes ago. They’re in Purchasing right now, confiscating the computers. We’ve been told to not go anywhere or say anything to the agents.”

Steve hurried back to Hammer Industries. He was stopped in the lobby by Security, told to avoid the FBI and Purchasing, and then cleared to go up to his cubicle. Steve decided to take the long way back to his cubicle past the Purchasing office. He was passed by a phalanx of lawyers descending on the FBI operation. He saw Clint Barton in the midst of the flurry of activity directing agents where to go and what items to seize.

Steve arrived back at this cubicle. It was clear no one was working, as groups of researchers and assistants stood around talking about what was going on in Purchasing. Steve tried to settle himself and handle the phone ringing off the hook. HR had already sent out directives about how to answer outside calls and what the official Hammer Industries response was to the FBI investigation. He looked up from his computer in time to see Natasha escort Derrick out of his office. The rest of the afternoon was full of rampant rumor and speculation as the FBI continued to search the premises.

Towards the end of the day, a harassed looking HR representative showed up at Steve’s cubicle with an FBI agent. “Take us to the file room, Steve,” she asked. Later they emerged with boxes of files and the agent went to the elevators with his hand truck. The HR rep stayed behind to tell Steve that today would be his last day at Hammer Industries. She told him that he did very good work for them, but given the circumstances of the current investigation all the temps were being let go. Steve was never so glad to grab his mug and go.

 

Steve was directed to show up at the FBI district office on Friday for an official interview and to bring all his evidence with him, including his laptop. He could bring a lawyer if he wanted to. Sam, who worked with law enforcement all the time, coached Steve on what was likely to happen in the interview. “It’s going to be tough questioning, Steve. Don’t lie about anything, at any point, and you’ll be fine.” Sam gave him the card of a lawyer acquaintance in case Steve needed it. “Tonight, we’ll hit the bars and put this behind us,” Sam said in an encouraging tone.

Putting on a brave face, Steve reported in as directed and spent the better part of the day being grilled by Clint and his supervisor about what he had found and how he had gotten involved, along with other incidentals of working at Hammer Industries. Clint’s supervisor, Nick Fury, was a very intimidating figure and very thorough in his interrogation of Steve. He asked Steve in different ways about his evidence, his motivations, and his suspicions of the people in Purchasing. Steve repeated his story, and if he paused or hesitated on any detail, Fury asked him to go over it again. In the end, Steve was very rattled by the experience. 

Finally, Fury relented and said, “Thank you for coming forward, Steve. We have a large ongoing investigation in the trafficking of classified military hardware. Your information is key to understanding who the players are.”

Steve relaxed in his chair and Clint smiled at him. “We’ve had our suspicions for a while about Hammer Industries, but we could not figure out their involvement.”

“I’m glad to be helpful,” Steve said with relief.

It seemed to Steve that his meeting was wrapping up until a lawyer arrived. Fury introduced the new arrival as Phil Coulson, a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. With an eye on Steve, Phil whispered to Fury. Fury scanned the documents that Phil gave him. Then Fury sighed and muttered under his breath that it’s never that easy. He shifted in his chair. “Okay. Tell me, Steve, how exactly do you know Tony Stark?”

Steve was flummoxed. He had not even told his closest friends about what was really going on between Tony and himself. And now he had to tell a complete stranger about his love life. He swallowed and said, “I’ve been on a couple of dates with Tony.”

“Only a couple?” Fury asked skeptically.

“We met in Las Vegas and hung out at a nightclub back in April. And we ran into each other at an art gallery a couple months ago and went out to dinner. Then we went on a date a few weeks later.” Steve paused. “And he came over for dinner last week.” Before the news broke about the FBI investigation, Steve remembered. “We keep in touch a lot.”

Fury exchanged a knowing look with Coulson. “So, are you Stark’s boyfriend or just a boytoy?”

“Neither,” Steve replied with a touch of anger. “I’d say that we’re just starting to see each other, nothing exclusive or solid. We weren’t in contact for a few weeks since we had a disagreement and Tony was busy with other things.” He reflected on what he told Tony about himself. “Also, Tony doesn’t know that I was working at Hammer Industries. I never told him what I did for work other than I was a temp who was very good with Excel. We mostly talked about my art.”

“So Stark would have no idea what you found?”

“I didn’t even know that Tony was being investigated by the FBI until I saw it on the news. And I have not heard from him since I saw him last Wednesday. I’ve called but he’s never called back.” Steve held out his phone.

Fury waved him off. “I want to make this clear, Steve. You are an important witness in our case against Hammer and Stark. If Stark contacts you, he will be charged with witness tampering and will be in very big trouble. And you do not contact Stark at all because that will compromise our case, and you will be charged with obstructing an official investigation. The only reason we know about you and Stark is that Justin Hammer’s lawyers gave us a picture of Stark going to your apartment. Hammer had a private investigator following Stark for the past month.” Steve nodded. “Am I clear?” Fury asked sternly.

“Yes,” Steve acknowledged.

“Good. Phil Coulson and his people will be in touch with their questions and legal stuff. Do not talk to any reporters for any reason. Thank you again, Steve.”

With that, Steve was dismissed and allowed to go home. He took the elevator to the lobby with a sick feeling in his stomach. When the elevator doors opened, he saw Tony with Pepper and accompanied by a half-dozen lawyers and paralegals. Tony appeared tired and a bit rough around the edges, but he looked fantastic in a charcoal suit with a red shirt and flashy gold cufflinks. Steve’s heart clenched as he locked eyes with Tony. Steve saw Tony start to smile until one of the lawyers turned and plucked Tony’s sleeve. Regarding Steve with suspicion, he leaned over and whispered in Tony’s ear. Tony looked very shocked. He narrowed his eyes and mouthed something incomprehensible to Steve.

Steve looked away, a wave of sadness and regret washing over him. He realized he had to leave before he caused more legal trouble for Tony. He turned and quickly exited the FBI building without looking back, his heart racing. 

On the subway trip back to his apartment, Steve reflected on how in a week he lost a job he did not particularly care about, became a key witness in a federal corruption case, had his laptop confiscated, and single-handedly killed any chance of a relationship with Tony.

He thought bitterly about the consequences of his decisions, staring blankly out the window at the passing cityscape.


	11. Reward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very much for reading!
> 
> And big thanks to my beta, who has been beyond helpful and encouraging with this fic.

After that, Steve’s life went on as it always did. After the abrupt conclusion of his job at Hammer Industries, Steve took a couple of weeks off to focus on his art and then found another temp job. He rarely heard from Phil Coulson, although his office called on occasion with a question for clarification. Steve had his laptop returned eventually , but that was all he knew about the FBI investigation. There were no articles or stories in the news about the allegations against Stark Industries and Tony had vanished from the gossip pages.

As summer wore into fall, Steve began to dream of Tony. Tony would be in the middle of a crowd, brilliant and shining. He would see Steve and beckon him to join the crowd. Or he would appear to Steve while Steve was sketching in a park. Dressed in a bespoke suit, he would sit down, play with his phone and never say anything to Steve. Steve could feel his closeness and would reach out to touch him and the dream would end. Or Steve would dream of kissing Tony, of feeling his weight in his arms, of telling Tony how much he meant to Steve, of hearing Tony tell him it’s all okay. But then Steve would wake and remember painfully the look on Tony’s face when he last saw him at the FBI building.

Steve noted that his art had taken a distinct melancholic turn, almost verging on depressive with darker shadows and more tones of gray and cloudy, muted colors. He worked hard to clear his mind before he started painting so he could focus on translating the images in his mind to the canvas in front of him. But regrets over what he never said to Tony crowded out his other thoughts. Sam was right, he should have told Tony how much Tony meant to him. They could not be in contact right now because of the legal cases, but Steve regretted that he had given no indication to Tony that there was enough between them to last through the enforced separation, and to encourage Tony to wait for him. Steve had enough time to recognize that his hesitation and concern about Tony’s celebrity were smokescreens hiding his fear of getting seriously involved with Tony. He held back to not get hurt, but now he could imagine what he would have had, if he had thrown himself into things wholeheartedly. Tony had seen and felt his hesitation. In the end, it was Steve’s fault. His loss.

Sometime in October, he got a text: _Lawyers, what can you say_. It was from Tony. Steve’s heart skipped a beat. When nothing followed, Steve decided the cryptic text was an accident. He hoped it meant that Tony still had his number despite everything. He did not get another text after that.

All Steve’s friends were very encouraging and sympathetic. He had finally come clean to them about dating Tony after his FBI interview. He learned that Peggy, Sam and Bucky did not care about Tony’s celebrity because they had learned about Tony as a person from what Steve told them. They all agreed that Tony was very good for Steve. But after Steve testified at the grand jury hearing, Sam warned him that it could take well over a year or more for the cases to come to trial. Peggy took a different view and said, “Steve, if he’s the person you describe, he’ll wait. It will work out.” Steve could long for Tony forever, but he knew that their fragile relationship could be crushed easily by the weight of time.

Then, out of the blue, a reporter called in early November. Steve had not heard from the media since the stories about the investigations broke in August, so the call was a surprise. The reporter asked Steve for his reaction to the news that Tony Stark and Stark Industries had been exonerated in the FBI investigation. Steve politely declined to answer and hung up. He immediately pulled up the internet to find out if the news was true.

It was. The FBI had found the three people in Stark Industries who were involved in sending classified parts to Hammer Industries as part of a large operation to sell counterfeit Stark Industries parts and classified military hardware to terrorist organizations. After the people were identified, the FBI determined they were independent, working on their own, and Tony Stark had nothing to do the scheme. Tony was cleared. Steve smiled at pictures of a jaunty Tony in front of the courthouse talking to reporters. The next day there was a picture of Tony at a nightclub with a famous singer and a couple of starlets celebrating the end of his legal problems. Steve felt hurt and lost seeing the picture. He should be there.

In the meantime, Sharon pushed Steve about marketing his art and offered to help him with finding an artist-in-residence position. She had connections in the art world and urged Steve to update his resume. She put Steve on the spot when she asked if Steve was ready to leave New York for the right opportunity. Steve considered it briefly -- he needed to move on and maybe a change would do him good. He told her yes, he could move. But the whole meeting left a bad taste in Steve’s mouth, like he was giving up, and he hated to admit defeat.

 

Just after Christmas, Steve wrapped up a care package to mail to Bucky, as he listened to Sam grouse about being on call for New Year’s. Sam started to ask Steve about his plans, clearly angling to get Steve out of the apartment that night so he could have a girlfriend over. Steve smiled, remembering the large party Sam threw last year when Peggy was still in town, and when he had never heard of Tony Stark. 

Sam was flipping through the television channels looking for a basketball game. He stopped on a news channel. A reporter was announcing that Justin Hammer had settled with the US government over charges of selling military technology and fraud. Hammer would plead guilty and pay a huge fine, but the people directly involved in perpetrating the sales and counterfeiting the parts would be going to jail. Sam snorted. “That looks like your old friends Derrick and Jake, Steve.” He pointed to the TV. 

“Wow. They all just pled guilty,” Steve said in shock. “I thought it would take forever to wrap up.”

“That’s because you got them dead to rights, buddy,” Sam said with glee.

“I never heard from Fury or Coulson that they were going to settle.”

Sam shrugged. “It probably happened real fast. I’m sure that they would tell you after New Year’s.”

Later, as Steve was working at his easel and Sam watched his game, he heard his phone ring. He retrieved it from an end table. “Hey there, Steve,” Tony said brightly.

Steve sank into a chair from surprise. “Tony?” he croaked out. Sam perked up.

“Yep, the one and only. I’m all by myself here in Key West. I remember I owe you a trip. So do you wanna come down for a week?”

“You want me to come to down to Key West for a week?” Steve asked incredulously. He caught Sam’s eye. Sam gave him a look that said I-will-kick-your-ass-if-you-don’t-say-yes.

“Hey, otherwise I’m going to waste this perfect weather plotting to sue Justin Hammer and his company into oblivion. Are you in or out, gorgeous?”

Steve’s mind reeled. “Yeah, yeah, I – I – I could do that,” he stammered out.

“I’ll arrange for the corporate jet to pick you up. Tomorrow okay?”

Steve ran over his plans for the next week in his mind. He could do that. “Yeah, tomorrow’s fine.”

“See you soon! Pack for nice weather. Or don’t pack,” Tony said suggestively. “A clothes optional week with you would be _fantastic_.” Then he added in a lower voice, “Look, Steve, I’ve really missed you and can’t wait to see you. Pepper will be in touch. Bye.” He hung up and Steve reflexively put down the phone.

“Was that your boy?” Sam asked.

“He just asked me to fly down to Key West for a week,” Steve replied, looking stunned from the call.

“Sounds to me like he’s still interested,” Sam said. 

“I haven’t heard from him since August and he didn’t look too pleased with me that last time I saw him.” Steve rubbed his face and groaned. “I shouldn’t have said yes.” 

“What do you have to lose, Steve?” Sam asked pointedly. “I’m not just saying this because I’d like you out of the apartment for New Year’s. But you can’t seem to shake this guy out of your mind. Take a chance. Go. Find out what he’s offering,” Sam said encouragingly. He added, “If it goes badly, Florida is not far away and you’ve got me.”

Pepper called in an hour with arrangements. A car would pick up Steve in the morning to take him to the airport where he would catch the jet. “Tony will pick you up when you land. Do you need anything?” Pepper asked.

Steve could not think of anything. He was sorting through clothes to take and Sam was lending him a suitcase. “I’m fine. I’m assuming I don’t need anything more formal than board shorts and tees?”

Pepper laughed. “That’s the uniform. If you need anything, you can pick it up there. Have a good time, Steve.”

The rest of the day passed in a blur as Steve packed for the trip. Sam promised to mail Bucky’s package, make apologies to Peggy for missing her call, and handle anything else that came up while Steve was away. Steve carefully picked out art supplies and sketch books and found a couple of books for the plane. He could barely sleep at all, nervous and excited at the same time. In the morning, Sam saw him off when the town car came to pick him up. Steve was dropped off at the Teterboro Airport and escorted to the Stark Industries corporate jet. Everyone was very nice to him, from the driver to the stewardess who welcomed him aboard the plane. Steve felt a little uncomfortable with all the attention but he realized that Pepper probably set this all up so he would not have to worry about the trip.

When he landed at the airport in Key West, Tony was waiting. He smiled his patented megawatt smile when he saw Steve come down the stairs from the jet. As soon as they met up, Tony pulled him into a deep kiss. “I’m so glad you’re here,” Tony said when they broke off. 

Steve smiled broadly and hugged Tony. “I’m happy to see you too.” 

Tony checked in with the air crew and then loaded Steve and his suitcase into a two-seater Audi convertible. The air was wonderfully warm and fragrant as Steve shook off the New York winter and soaked in the sun. Tony was telling him about the beachfront house he was renting as he drove. “There’s so much to catch up on,” Tony said, squeezing Steve’s hand.

Soon Tony pulled into the driveway. The two-story pale yellow beachfront house with expansive porches was set back from the road and was partially covered by trees. “Why don’t you get changed while I open a bottle of wine and get some snacks?” Tony suggested as they entered the front door. Steve looked around the open concept living room and kitchen and saw a pool area just beyond the wide open large windows overlooking the ocean. 

He went upstairs and was confronted by where to put his stuff. He figured Tony’s room was the big room with the terrific view of the ocean. But he did not think that was where he would be staying since he had no idea where their relationship stood, despite Tony’s clear joy in seeing Steve. Steve decided to play it safe and ducked into one of the other smaller bedrooms. He changed into board shorts and a t-shirt and realized that he forgot to pack his sandals. Bare feet would have to do.

He walked through the tiled living room onto the patio where found Tony sitting on the deck, his feet dangling over the edge of the pool. Tony offered him a glass of wine and a cracker with cheese when Steve sat down next to him. Tony scooted over to sit hip to hip with Steve. Steve could smell the musk of his cologne and feel the solid muscle of his thigh. He was unsettled by Tony’s open happiness. 

“My lawyers told me I was free to call you now that Justin and his merry band of idiots pled guilty to the charges.” Tony sipped his wine and gave Steve a smile. “I decided to get away from California and New York for a while, so Pepper found me this place. And, with the legal concerns gone, I thought, who better to share my vacation with?” Tony leaned over to kiss Steve’s cheek, one hand squeezing Steve’s knee. 

Steve was in danger of blurting out everything he wanted to say to Tony as he looked into Tony’s brilliant brown eyes. He looked down into his wine. “Um, I thought you’d be angry with me,” he said carefully.

“Angry? How I could I possibly be angry with you?” Tony exclaimed, knocking Steve’s shoulder with his.

“The last time I saw you was at the FBI building and you didn’t look happy with me.”

Tony sighed. “I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t a good time, Steve.” He looked down as he swirled the the wine in his glass. “I mean, I wasn’t happy to find out that you had been working for my most annoying competitor.”

“I hated it,” Steve offered, “but I was kind of stuck with it. I didn’t talk about temping at Hammer because I sort of knew you wouldn’t like it. The job was going to be over soon. I tried to quit, but I didn’t want to get blacklisted at my agency. It’s hard enough to get temp jobs as it is, and they always look out for me.”

Tony cocked his head. “Yeah, I see your point. After all, I didn’t tell you about Meaghan. All you knew was what you saw in the gossip sites, and you didn’t like that. I can give you this.”

Then Tony continued, “Fury told me that you were a key witness in the case against me and that you had evidence about the parts laundering. Of course Fury was trying to convince me to confess. But I was completely innocent. I couldn’t believe the news. My lawyers, though ..., well, they’re paid to look out for my interests, so I can’t complain.”

He set down his wineglass and wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist. “You were so good to me when I was at my lowest point. Exactly what I hoped to find in a boyfriend someday, if I ever thought about having a boyfriend.” 

Steve blushed. “It just seemed that you needed me that night.” 

Tony nodded. “I did. I needed someone to just care about me. And you did.” He continued. “Then it turned out you uncovered how the whole smuggling operation worked. And you saved me and my company.” Turning fully to Steve, Tony reached up and put a finger on Steve’s lips. “Before you say anything, yes, I know it was not intentional on your side. But that’s exactly what you did – your evidence cleared a lot of good people from being arrested and charged with crimes they didn’t commit. Maybe the charges wouldn’t have held up in court, but it looked very, very bad for us. Justin Hammer tried to frame me and my people for his activities, and you stopped him from succeeding. I just wish he’d go to jail too.”

Tony took a sip of his wine and ate some crackers and cheese. Steve did not know what to say. He looked down into the pool at the colorful mosaic tiles. Then Tony touched Steve’s chin and turned his head towards him. “I can never tell what’s going on in that head of yours, but please let me show you a good time. I want to make you happy this week.” He kissed Steve, pressing his tongue to open Steve’s mouth. “I want to start up where we left off and forget the past few miserable months,” Tony said as he lifted away, warm breath on Steve’s face. He pulled Steve closer and laid his head on his shoulder. “I’ve missed you, believe it or not.”

“I’ve missed you, Tony,” Steve replied. He could hear the crashing of the surf not far away. “I’ve really missed you an awful lot.” Tony was so close and so warm and so enticing. Thoughts of Tony had occupied his mind since August and now they were together, alone, for a week. God, he wanted this to work out, to be finally on the same page with Tony, to figure what they actually are to each other, to know if he could put his luggage in Tony’s room.

Tony nibbled Steve’s ear, his breath stirring on his cheek, and said, “Let’s go to bed, if you’re up to it.” Oh, Steve was up for anything with Tony.

They made their way to Tony’s bedroom upstairs, where it was so easy to slip out of their clothes and onto the bed. Amid the kissing, caressing and touching, Tony pushed Steve down and straddled him. Steve smiled deeply up at Tony above him, magnificent and glowing. Then, reaching over to the nightstand, Tony took out lube and a condom. He bent over to kiss Steve. “I’ve thought about you so much over the past few months.” He nipped and nibbled Steve’s chin, neck, and chest. He stopped to slick up his fingers and then shifted to work himself open. Watching with growing arousal, Steve wanted to touch and to move and to satisfy the deep, growing need in his stomach. “Just remember, it’s my show this afternoon, sweetheart,” Tony growled as he stroked Steve’s cock teasingly. Then he slicked up Steve and positioned himself for Steve to push up and in. Tony was so beautiful and responsive, Steve thought, as they found a rhythm between them. Steve wanted so much and Tony gave him everything. Moving faster and harder, Steve begged for more, his feet tangled in the sheets, sweat breaking out on his skin, his hands bruising on Tony’s hips. Tony told him how beautiful Steve was, how wonderful he looked under Tony as he broke apart. Tony shifted to put his hands on the headboard, pulling new moans and cries out of Steve. Steve felt Tony’s cock hard on his stomach and he reached to stroke Tony as Tony kept working Steve. Tony, panting and gasping, came suddenly, and Steve took over, jerking up into Tony until he earned his release. 

As Tony slid down to snuggle into Steve, Steve gently kissed him all over his face, neck and leanly muscled shoulders. They lay there, panting and boneless and tangled up in each other. The breeze from the ocean cooled them off. Tony stretched and said, “We need to do that next to the pool next time. Or tomorrow. Don’t want to rule out a second round tonight.”

Steve got up to get a towel to clean them off. He gently swiped down Tony, kissing as he went. Then he settled down in the bed and pulled Tony into his arms. Tony started to talk about getting something more substantial to eat. Steve blurted out, “I love you.” Terrified, he felt Tony shift away from him. Steve cringed. He blew it. Now Tony would have to let him down.

He looked up into Tony’s big brown eyes, brimming with emotion. “You’re just saying that because I’m fantastic in bed,” Tony said, trying to play down Steve’s words.

Steve paused a moment and decide to take the risk his friends always accused him of avoiding. He gathered his courage and said bravely, “No, I mean it.”

Tony looked in his eyes and then leaned down to kiss him. “I love you too. Maybe it’s too early to say that, but I’d be nuts to let you go ever again. Does this mean you’ll actually tell people I’m your boyfriend?”

Steve pulled Tony down to just hold him tight. He whispered in Tony’s ear, “Yes, I’ll tell everyone. At any time. Even if it makes us sound like we’re in junior high.”

Tony laughed hard. “I could live with that.” He shoved lightly at Steve. “I’m really hungry. Let’s go out to this great restaurant down the road. I can shower while you unpack. I left you room in the bureau and closet.”

Steve lowered his arms. As Tony got up, Tony said, “I have lots of plans for you.”

“Does that include a long ride in the convertible?” Steve teased. He really wanted to take that car out and see what it could do. 

Tony replied, “Whatever you want, baby. We’ve got all week.”

Just before they left to go back to New York, Tony showed Steve the society page from the local paper. “What do you think of that?” he teased as Steve looked in shock at the large picture of him and Tony at dinner, holding hands and looking all couple-like. “That’s what you’re signing up for.”

“It’s a small price to pay,” Steve admitted, “given what I’m getting in return.” Tony smiled back at him.


End file.
